15. Captured: Afghanistan’s ‘Dancing Boys’ and the Hazaras

Born in Pakistan, Barat Ali Batoor moved to Afghanistan as a photojournalist.  His parents fled the country in the early 70s because of the discrimination they experienced as Hazaras, an ethnic minority group in Afghanistan that has faced political, economic and social repression for more than a century.

In this episode, Barat takes us on his gripping journey — one that reached its apex when he documented the injustice done to the ‘Dancing Boys’ and the practice called ‘Bacha Bazi’ a tradition found across Afghanistan involving the sexual exploitation of boys.  He was forced to flee to find safety, like other journalists and whistleblowers who face threats to their life from exposing the wrongdoings of those in power.

On the show, we unpack the difference between a political asylum seeker and a refugee and better understand why two-thirds of the refugees in the world have been waiting roughly 20 years or more for their cases to be resolved. We also dive briefly into the experience of the Hazara population, historic context into the political instability in Afghanistan, and the danger attached to Barat’s work.

Featuring policy and advocacy insights from experts:  Charu Lata Hogg, Executive Director of All Survivors Project, Niamatullah Ibrahimi, Lecturer at La Trobe University, and James Hathaway, Director of the Program in Refugee and Asylum Law at University of Michigan Law School.

The Elders Special Segment Guest: Ban Ki-moon, Deputy Chair of The Elders and former United Nations Secretary-General.

Host: Hazami Barmada, CEO, Humanity Lab Foundation.

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Finding Humanity is a production of Humanity Lab Foundation and Hueman Group Media.

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