July 09 (IPS) – The Sarai-e Shamali camp in Kabul is a temporary refugee shelter. The camp receives an average of 100 Afghans a day, most of whom were forced to return from Pakistan and Iran when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan three years ago.
Forced expulsions leave these individuals in desperate situations, including severe financial hardship, homelessness, and lack of means to make a living.
Mastora, 32, spent her entire life in Pakistan with her family, her husband selling leather and they lived comfortably. Now, having been forcibly returned to Afghanistan, she has left everything behind in Pakistan and has nothing. “We have no home, no means of livelihood, no money for transportation and the Taliban does not provide us with any support,” says Mastora.
Seven women were interviewed for this report, three of whom were forcibly returned from Iran and four from Pakistan. Masto, a mother of five, was one of the women interviewed.
She was born 40 years ago after her parents immigrated from poverty-stricken Afghanistan to Pakistan in search of a better life.
Mastora and her family are among hundreds of thousands of Afghans who were forced out of Pakistan last year when the country suddenly announced it would forcibly expel Afghan refugees living illegally, uprooting families who had been living in Pakistan for decades.
Iran has also decided to send back Afghan refugees living in the country.
Pakistan deported more than 500,000 Afghans in the first round of deportations in November last year. Authorities in the country have announced a second round of deportations to be carried out in July this year, which will affect 800,000 Afghans who they claim are illegal immigrants.
All the women interviewed had no place to live. After living in misery for days, only four were able to rent a house. The Afghan government did not provide them with any support. Of the seven women interviewed, only one received 1,800 Afghanis (equivalent to 23 euros) from the UN when she left Pakistan.
The arrival of the displaced people had an immediate impact on Kabul, with rents and property prices rising sharply.
Many Afghans fled to neighboring Pakistan and Iran mainly because of the economic collapse after the Taliban took power, the persecution many people suffered, and the extreme oppression women faced under the hardline Islamic Taliban regime.
But Afghans are being forcibly returned to countries where conditions are worsening.
Madina Azizi, a civil rights activist and law graduate, fled to Afghanistan a year ago. “I was in Pakistan for more than nine months,” she said. “Now I have to go back to Afghanistan and I am worried about my safety. I couldn’t live a day in Pakistan because I was afraid the Taliban would come after me,” Azizi said.
Beyond financial concerns, the women are deeply concerned about their daughters’ future in Afghanistan, where the Taliban is suppressing girls’ education.
Shakiba and Taj Begum were exiled from Pakistan. They are illiterate, but their husbands are well educated, and according to them, that is why they know the value of education.
“I have been in Pakistan for seven years. My daughter is 16 years old and in ninth grade. In Pakistan, my husband and I worked for the future of our children, but now here we have nothing, no job, no home and I am worried about the future of my two daughters,” Shakiba said.
Begum expressed similar concerns. “I was in Pakistan for four years. My daughter was in seventh grade there and my husband was a tailor. Our life was much better than in Afghanistan. It’s been two weeks since I came back and I still haven’t found a home. There’s no help. We’re wondering what to do.”
Malay, Feroza and Halima, who were exiled from Iran, say they left Afghanistan because they could no longer work after the Taliban took power. But in Iran, they all had lucrative jobs. Malay worked as a cleaner with her husband, Feroza worked in a restaurant and Halima worked in a beauty salon.
“Now we can barely get by. Even if we can get food for breakfast, we have trouble getting food for dinner. If we can get food for one day, we have to share it for the next day. We live in extreme hardship. There have been days when we survived on tea and bread,” the women say.
Women also said their daughters and sons had no jobs and no support. Girls could no longer study.
Because of the economic hardships and security risks faced by women forcibly returned to Afghanistan, immigration experts and women’s rights activists are urging Pakistani and Iranian authorities to stop forcibly repatriating Afghan women.
© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedOriginal Source: Inter Press Service
