n 2009, American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were detained by the North Korean government and sentenced to serve over a decade of time in the infamously deadly labor camps that would have killed them. When I became aware of this, I was afraid for them not just because of the dire situation they were in but also because I feared that America would not come to their aid because they were Americans of Asian descent. Definitely there were ample comments on major news sites that validated this concern. People saying that their detainment was their own fault, that they were just attention seekers, that it was a publicity stunt gone wrong.
All I saw were two California women from a country of people that has major issues with seeing them as one of their own just because of their Asian heritage. I was afraid that many Americans were of the mentality: “They’re Asians anyways, so what does this have to do with us?” I did what I could to spread the word, writing articles and letters to government officials.
To my great relief, Bill Clinton swooped in and rescued them superman style. I was so happy and relieved to see the video footage of them stepping off the plane and reuniting with their families. I was so proud to be an American that day.
Around the same time on July 31, 2009, tourists Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, and Josh Fattal were hiking in Kurdistan near the Iraq and Iran border and were accused of accidentally crossing the unclearly marked border. They were detained by Iranian forces in solitary confinement from that day on. Shourd was released on September 14, 2010, but Bauer and Fattal are STILL being held captive.
It tears my heart out to know that they’re still locked up there, not even given a fair trial. Last Mother’s Day, their mothers were allowed to visit them for a couple of hours. There’s no such news of a Mother’s Day visit this year. Can you imagine if Laura Ling and Euna Lee were locked away in a labor camp in North Korea on that day? Please spread the word to release our fellow Americans from this unjust detainment in Iran. If we can bring Ling and Lee safely home, I don’t see why we can’t do the same for Bauer, Shourd, and Fattal.
