(soft music) - I wish I could say there will never be refugees again.

That there will never be this kind of crisis again.

But unfortunately, unless we really change systems and structures, we have to be prepared for that.

What's at stake is our standing in the world.

Our word, our credibility, our policies, everything is at stake with this, if we abandon the very people that we promise to protect, and serve, and help.

But it's up to us to help tell at least this portion of the story in a way that creates success.

One that doesn't reinforce, and rehash and constantly repeat our historical mistakes.

(soft music) We have the power to create that change.

(soft music) - For Americans, the Vietnam war officially ended on April 30th, 1975.

But for the Vietnamese, it was the start of a two-decade long nightmare.

Desperate to flee persecution, an estimated two million Vietnamese tried to escape by land and sea.

Hundreds of thousands died or disappeared along the way.

My parents, and many of the Vietnamese you've met in this series, are included in this group of refugees, the boat people as they have come to be known.

Spoken or not, the trauma of what it took to seek refuge continues to haunt us.

So when I look back at the fall of Kabul, I now understand why people felt so panicked and desperate to get out.

What's kept me up night after night for months is this fear that Afghans might suffer the same fate so many Vietnamese have.

And that we're witnessing just the start of another long nightmare.

Those Vietnamese who reached safety and rebuilt their lives, I'm coming to realize, have more than a feel-good story to share.

They have a dire warning for the world.

(soft music) - This is a very tragic story of the boat people.

They are facing life and death.

They feel like, "I'd rather die on the ocean than live in my country under the Communists."

And they know that maybe the last boat couldn't make it.

They know it.

Their neighbor would pass away, or die on the ocean.

They still want to make the trip.

They are determined to get out.

(soft music) It take about half a million people dying.

That's how, the doors open.

The world said that, "No, enough is enough."

That's how they think about orderly departure program.

(soft music) - [Thanh] Without an orderly departure program in place for Afghans, one that allows refugees and asylum seekers to reunite with their families in a timely manner, we can already see the impact on people like Mohammad.

He spends his days caring for his family who've made it out, but remains racked with guilt for those who haven't.

He tries to check in every day, and each day, they plead for help he cannot give, at least not right now.

(soft music) (Mohammad and man on phone speak foreign language) - A lot of the folks who were evacuated from Afghanistan, they were evacuated under the Humanitarian Parole status.

And Humanitarian Parole is only a temporary grant of permission to live here in the U.S.

So these folks who were evacuated under horribly traumatic experiences, they are dumped into a new country, they are expected to rebuild their lives while facing trauma, and yet to do so on a foundation that isn't even permanent.

And if we don't help them to rebuild their lives, then why did we evacuate them in the first place?

(soft music) - [Thanh] Here in Washington, state representative My-Linh Thai, herself a Vietnam war survivor, led the effort in 2021 to secure millions in new funding to help incoming refugees from any country.

- The term "refugees", the verb is to take refuge.

Each one of us is a refugee somewhere.

Like, a safe space somewhere.

And someone in our life, some space in our life, has given us that refuge.

I think we're still too stuck in the concept of black and white.

Refugees are the people of others, they are not us.

But I deeply believe that each of us have experienced being a refugee in our life at some point.

- [Thanh] What concerns me is that compassion fatigue is setting in, and America has short-term memory.

Helping Afghans is just not a priority for Congress.

They can't even pass bipartisan legislation that would protect the Afghan allies we've already evacuated from being sent back.

It's hard to shake the feeling that history is doomed to repeat itself.

So much so that even the small successes feel like missed opportunities.

- Since we last talked, I have really good news to share which is we were able to get my interpreter out of Afghanistan and he's now in Canada.

- [Thanh] And why Canada and why not the U.S.?

- Yeah, I mean I think that has been pretty eye-opening for me as someone who is watching this all unfold.

I was hoping that he would come to America.

I think he was hoping he would come to America, the country that he was working with for so many years.

It's been such a relief that he's found refuge there, but also just so disappointing that he couldn't find it here in America.

(soft music) Hey, Abdul Jamay, hi!

- [Abdul] Can you hear me now?

- [Dede ] Yeah, I can hear you, how are you?

- [Abdul] I'm good, good how are you?

- I'm good.

It's good seeing you.

How have you been?

- It's a new life.

I mean, everything start from zero.

We're struggling with everything.

If it's our English, if it's French.

Even finding or getting a job, it's all challenges.

I know a lot of friends, a lot of people who are still stranded in Kabul, or in another part of the country.

They live really in what they call it, in fear and in danger.

Thousands of people disappeared.

They killed too many people.

And it's because of waste of time.

It's just because, what do they call it?

There's an English word, bureaucracy or whatever?

Just playing with papers?

It's all waste of time.

Trust me, they could do it better than that.

How we did help NATO and their allies in Afghanistan, but now how careless and reckless they are about us.

It's really unfortunate.

(soft music) - As much as I want this to be a refugees helping refugees moment of celebration, we're far from done.

It's taken 50 years of constant advocacy and legislative action to reunite Vietnamese families.

Even then, and we're still grappling with the disruptive nature of war.

It will be no different for our Afghan allies.

It's hard and it's painful to revisit the past but sometimes, that's where we have to go to find truth and a way forward.

As those brave Vietnamese who came before have taught us, this isn't a race, it's a marathon.

And for the Afghans, it has only just begun.

(soft music) - [Announcer] Refuge After War is the first season of Crosscut Origins.

Submissions are open for season two.

Learn more and apply at crosscut.com/origins.

Refuge After War is made possible by the generous support of CAIR-WA.