Khaled Hosseini Discusses “Sea Prayer”

KHALED HOSSEINI, NOVELIST: As a goodwill ambassador for UNHCR, I’m concerned as are all people who care about the plight of refugees, the sort of tidal event of refugees’ sentiment we’re seeing in parts of the world. I happened to think a lot of it is based on at least among the public a misconception, misunderstanding of who refugees are, even where they are. The common misconception, for example, is that they want to invade western shores and take western jobs. But they live in neighboring countries and 85 percent of them live in places like Jordan and Lebanon and Iraq and Uganda. They never wanted to leave home. This was not a choice that was made whimsically. And given the choice, they all would prefer to return home. And so part of my job is to bring human dimension to the ply of refugees and also address some of this myths.

AMANPOUR: Well, you have brought a human dimension in the form of this really sweet and beautiful book. And it’s lovely. It’s illustrated beautifully. You made very very certain not to make it a political diatribe and it’s about little Alan Kurdi who is inspired by that. I just want to read, have you read a couple of pages of a father’s musings to his young son.

HOSSEINI: Sure. I look at your profile in the glow of this three-quarter moon, my boy. Your eyelashes like calligraphy, closed in guileless sleep. I said to you, “Hold my hand. Nothing bad will happen.” These are only words a father’s tricks. And it slays your father, your faith in him. Because all I can think is how deep the sea, and how vast, how indifferent. How powerless I am to protect from you it. All I can do is pray.

AMANPOUR: And it’s so heart wrenching. It really is. At what point did you think this is what I’m going to do?

HOSSEINI: I’ve been thinking about the plight of all those thousands of refugees who have lost their lives at sea for a long time. And I wanted to write a story about that because I want people to understand that these are choices that are not made lightly. Who in their right mind would take the children and set out in the open sea in a rubber boat? Along with dozens of other people, put their lives in the hands of smugglers who sometimes openly murderous, whose entire business model thrives on human misery, and then set out at sea in the pitch black with nothing there to protect you towards an uncertain future. The choices that drives people into those boats are agonizing, the decision is last resort and the circumstances are often existential as in life and death.