Family fights for release of American held by the Taliban

Geoff Bennett:

For more than 500 days, an American citizen has been wrongfully detained in Afghanistan.

Ryan Corbett lived in Afghanistan for 12 years, where he worked with local NGOs and advised Afghan small businesses. His wife, Anna Corbett, was in Washington this week meeting with lawmakers and senior administration officials to push for her husband's release. And she sat down with Amna Nawaz.

Amna Nawaz:

Anna Corbett, welcome to the "NewsHour." Thank you for being here.

Anna Corbett, Wife of Ryan Corbett: Thank you for having me.

Amna Nawaz:

Your husband, Ryan, has now been held by the Taliban for 17 months. How are you able to get news about his condition, about how he's doing, and what can you tell us about how he's doing?

Anna Corbett:

So, I am in contact with State Department and have weekly calls and a lot of contact at State Department, and they give me updates when they can.

I actually was able to speak with Ryan on Christmas Day. He called us. That was my third call. And we spoke with him for six minutes. Didn't get a lot of news. It was so short. And he expressed just how difficult it is to be held in a basement cell for so long.

But at least it was good to hear just a little bit from him. On that call, he did mention that the Qataris had visited him. And they gave me a picture. That's all that I have had so far. I'm hoping for more of a readout. So there's bits and pieces of news, but it's very sparse and so little for 17 months. It's really challenging.

Amna Nawaz:

They gave you a recent picture of him?

Anna Corbett:

Yes.

Amna Nawaz:

How did he seem to you?

Anna Corbett:

It was awful seeing his picture, honestly. He had aged so much.

And the last picture I had seen was from January of 2023. And this was almost a year later. And he's lost a lot of weight. And he looked aged. He looked really tired. And he looked frail. So, that was so hard to see for the kids and I.

Amna Nawaz:

Yes, to back it up a little bit, you and Ryan, you made a home in Afghanistan from 2010 on. You moved there from Minnesota. Why that move in the first place?

Anna Corbett:

Ryan and I were young, we were healthy, our kids were little, and we wanted to make a difference in the world in a place that had suffered a lot.

So, Ryan became involved in NGO projects, and then he saw that he would have a bigger impact on Afghan families by helping them start their own businesses. So that was the purpose of his business. And so we wanted to make a difference, and we made a lot of friends. We loved Afghanistan, and our kids were little.

My son was born there, and they adapted to a new place. It was an interesting life, for sure, but we were thankful for the opportunities.

Amna Nawaz:

You lived there for 12 years. You did evacuate when the U.S. withdrew in August of 2021.

Anna Corbett:

Right.

Amna Nawaz:

But Ryan made the decision to go back the next year, even as U.S. officials were telling Americans not to go. Why did he go back?

Anna Corbett:

His business was still running. His staff was counting on him, and his visa was running out. So he thought, well, let me go see if I can try to get back in and pay my staff, check on the work.

So he returned in January of 2022, and it was a very short trip. Everything went really smoothly. He was given a warm welcome. They said, we need your kind of business in the country. Keep it going.

So, then, in August of 2022, he wanted to return, pay his staff, do some training, and that's when he ended up being detained. So it was just really shocking, because it was opposite of what we were expecting.

Amna Nawaz:

I mean, did you ever think that that would happen, living there as you had for years, knowing the relationships he had on the grounds? Was this ever a concern?

Anna Corbett:

No. No. And Ryan knew the language. We had lived there. We had friends. We just really didn't expect that that would happen to him.

Amna Nawaz:

Anna, this is now your eighth trip to Washington, D.C. I know lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan resolution calling for Ryan's release.

But you have met with the secretary of state. You have met with the deputy national security adviser. What are they telling you are Ryan's chances of release?

Anna Corbett:

They're all telling me they're working really hard towards his release.And I appreciate State Department, congressmen, senators on the Hill and at the White House. All of them are expressing how much they want Ryan home.

But yet I'm 17 months in, eight trips to Washington, D.C., with three children alone. And I'm really concerned that, is this really being prioritized or not? I have a meeting with Jake Sullivan, and I'm really looking forward to talking with him and hearing where things are at, because the situation is dire for Ryan.

He's getting worse. And the winters are really difficult in Afghanistan. And the reports I have heard from other Western prisoners who were held with him are just really scary, with talking about fainting and discolored extremities. He's not doing well. And I'm really worried about the winter conditions.

Last I heard, there was no heat. He's in a basement cell. And I really need the government to prioritize and see this as very urgent that he needs to be brought home.

Amna Nawaz:

You and Ryan have three kids. How are they coping with all of this?

Anna Corbett:

It's really tough. I'm so proud of them. I know Ryan would be so proud of them. They're amazing.

But it's so hard for them to focus on their studies. My daughter's a senior in high school. And I'm trying to teach my daughter to drive. I mean, that's just really challenging even when life is going well.

(Laughter)

Anna Corbett:

And my son is in basketball. His dad has never watched him play. It's really tough.

Amna Nawaz:

If you could get a message to Ryan today, what would you want him to know?

Anna Corbett:

Want him to know I'm going to fight for him to bring him back home. I'm going to do everything I can to bring him back home. We love him. We miss him like crazy. And we're really worried about him.

Amna Nawaz:

Anna Corbett, we thank you so much for being here today.

Anna Corbett:

Thank you so much for having me.