Activist's ‘nightmares' over fears of Afghanistan deportation
Smartly dressed and softly spoken, Mohammed Reza Sazish, 26, tries hard not to be noticed on the rare occasions he leaves the apartment he's renting in the outskirts of Islamabad.
A civil rights activist who fled to
Pakistan
from
Afghanistan
, he fears being caught up in a
mass deportation drive
that has seen close to 200,000 Afghans pushed out of the country in the past six weeks.
For Sazish, being forced back to Afghanistan could be a matter of life and death. In November 2022, he, along with several other activists, was arrested and jailed by the country's
Taliban
government for attending the inauguration of a new
women's rights
organisation.
'Sometimes I have nightmares about Afghanistan and the torture I experienced,' he tells me. 'I wake up suddenly, frightened, worried I might be deported.'
Millions of Afghans have been living in Pakistan for decades, the first major wave arriving after the beginning of the Afghan-Soviet war in 1979. Now, however, citing economic pressures and security concerns, the Pakistani government has ordered many to return, even those who were born and raised in Pakistan.
Hundreds of thousands were deported or pushed by fear of arrest to return to Afghanistan in a campaign that began in October 2023. A second wave got underway last month, with Pakistani authorities newly revoking the temporary resident permits of around 800,000 Afghans.
At the Torkham border crossing, families have loaded intricately painted Pakistani trucks with whatever possessions they've managed to fit in, as they return to a homeland some have never set foot in before. Under the Taliban, the country where they'll begin to rebuild their lives bars girls from studying beyond primary school age and women from working in most jobs.
In theory, Sazish, shouldn't be affected by the deportation campaign. He came to Pakistan after eventually being released from jail by the Taliban, and holds a valid Pakistani visa. But he has to renew it each month. It's expensive and crucially leaves him in nervous periods of limbo for weeks – awaiting an extension that may or may not arrive, in which time he could be swept up in the frequent raids Pakistani police carry out searching for undocumented Afghans.
A few months ago, they arrived at his door. He says: 'I was scared and thinking we have done nothing wrong, why have they come? His visa had already been extended that month, but he hadn't printed a copy out and so he was taken away to a transit camp for deportees. 'I was showing my documents, but they weren't checking them or listening to what I was saying.'
Sazish managed to negotiate his release, he says, with the help of a bribe paid to the police, but now his anxiety swells anytime he hears a rap on the door.
There are many other Afghans in a similar position to Sazish in Pakistan, all of them hoping to be relocated abroad. But western countries are now accepting far fewer Afghan refugees than they were immediately after the Taliban takeover in August 2021.
'Sometimes I have nightmares about Afghanistan and the torture I experienced. I wake up suddenly, frightened, worried I might be deported.'
– Mohammed Reza Sazish
Under President Trump, the US has suspended its refugee admission programme
, and despite the clear risks he faces, Sazish is yet to receive a positive response to his frequent enquiries to human rights groups and foreign embassies. 'Night and day I am sending emails,' he says. 'The first thing I ask whenever I meet anybody is can you give me the email address of any organization or country that can help me?'
With international attention now focused elsewhere, Sazish and other Afghan human rights defenders feel abandoned. 'We are not just forgotten, but totally forgotten,' he says bitterly. 'Here in Pakistan we are not living, just surviving.'
A poem he's written captures the despair he feels:
'The train arrived, halted with a howl, it offered its respects to the weary and waiting sunset
The man picked up his suitcase of sorrow and climbed aboard, the train compartment was overtaken by a serene silence
Before he turned away, he wrote: 'Jihad. War…' — then spat on the words he had scrawled
When he fell asleep and closed his eyes, all the people vanished, he saw a soothing light
In his bright dream, he danced and clapped, a girl offered him wine and honey
When he woke, black blood covered the train as it crashed, he was bewildered and confused, wondering how this new disaster had befallen him'
Watch more here:
England-Afghanistan cricket match to go ahead despite calls for boycott
Afghan Women's Summit – an act of defiance in itself
What is the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan two years after Taliban takeover?
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
11 hours ago
- Telegraph
One in five Afghans at risk from landmines
One in five Afghans is at risk of being killed or maimed by landmines and unexploded bombs, the world's biggest de-mining charity has warned. After 40 years of conflict, Afghanistan is second only to Ukraine in terms of its contamination with unexploded ordnance but risks becoming 'a forgotten humanitarian problem'. Some 6.4 million people – around a fifth of the country's total population – live in areas littered with landmines and unexploded ordnance, The Halo Trust has said in a new analysis of the threat facing Afghans. As a result, roughly 50 Afghans are being killed or severely wounded in explosive accidents every month. More than 80 per cent of victims are children, often sent to collect scrap metal that is subsequently sold-on in order for their families to make a living. The problem has been exacerbated recently by the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees from neighbouring Pakistan and Iran. Many of those arriving back in the country fled following the Taliban takeover in 2021, and often have few means to support themselves. The Halo Trust has cleared over 800,000 landmines and 11 million pieces of unexploded ordnance from Afghanistan since it began working in the country in 1998. But recent cuts to foreign aid spending – particularly USAID, the US's foreign aid agency which was a major funder of international demining programmes – has forced the organisation to cut its mine-clearing staff in Afghanistan by almost half, from 2,200 to 1,000 people. 'Afghanistan is now a forgotten humanitarian problem. The Afghan people have struggled for over four decades of conflict, displacement, poverty, and we need the international community to continue to support people to the end of this journey and not leave them stranded halfway through,' said Dr Farid Homayoun, the Halo Trust's Afghanistan Programme Manager. Earlier this year, the Halo Trust sounded the alarm after several European countries announced plans to leave the Ottawa Treaty, a landmark agreement introduced in 1997 that bans the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel mines. Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland announced their intentions to withdraw in April, citing the threat of a Russian attack.
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
'We were friends of the US': Fearful Afghans face Trump travel ban
Ahmad has been hiding in Afghanistan for former Afghan military employee is living in fear of being found by the Taliban, which seized power in 2021 as US forces withdrew from the Central Asian a result, Ahmad is unable to get a job or access medical care, relying on donations from friends outside the country to survive. His son, 12, is unable to go to they are found, Ahmad says, the Taliban "will remove" hope had been refugee resettlement in the US, but - with just a medical check to complete - the process was put on pause by the Trump he hoped. Then, on Thursday he woke to the news that US President Donald Trump had issued a new order banning the entry of Afghan passport holders to the US, citing national security threats."I am not a threat to the United States," Ahmad told the BBC. The BBC is not using his real name because of concerns about his safety."We were friends of the United States," he added. Why are these 12 countries on the list?How nations have responded Everything else we know about the ban - so farTrump's new ban dodges pitfalls from last time, experts sayChad halts US visas in revenge for Trump travel ban Trump's sweeping travel ban came into force on Monday, blocking people from Afghanistan and 11 other countries, including seven from Africa, as well as countries like Haiti and Yemen, from entering the US. There are partial bans on seven other to the ban, Afghanistan was included because the Taliban are considered by the US government to be a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group, and the country does not have "a competent or co-operative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents", or "appropriate screening and vetting measures". It also notes a relatively high rate of people overstaying their Trump administration has, however, recently dropped temporary protected status for more than 9,000 Afghans living in the US, arguing its assessments showed the security and economic situation in Afghanistan had those living in Afghanistan are faced with a series of restrictions brought in by the Taliban government in line with its strict interpretation of Sharia ones affecting women - including the enforcement of head coverings, restrictions on travel and education over the age of 12 - amount to a "gender apartheid", according to the United Nations. The Taliban says it respects the rights of women in line with Sharia and Afghan culture.A different UN report from 2023 found there were credible reports that hundreds of former government officials and armed forces members had been killed since the group returned to power in 2021, despite a general amnesty. The Taliban has previously said all Afghans could "live in the country without any fear" - and those abroad should come back and help rebuild the country."There is a general amnesty," Mohammad Suhail Shaheen, Taliban ambassador to Qatar, told the BBC earlier this year. "Countrywide security is prevalent in Afghanistan. Every citizen and traveller can travel to any corner of the country without any obstacles or any difficulties."There are exceptions to Trump's ban - including for Afghans who worked directly with the US military before the Taliban back took control of the country in Ahmad, whose application for resettlement was backed by a former US service member, does not qualify for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) because he did not work directly for the he is far from the only one. Trump to end protected status for Afghans Some 200,000 Afghans have been resettled since the US military's chaotic withdrawal, but there are still tens of thousands more waiting for a have fled across the border to neighbouring Pakistan to wait for a decision to be made on their who spoke to the BBC's Afghan Service, is currently in Pakistan - which has been expelling tens of thousands of Afghans in recent months. If the path to the US is closed to her, she is not sure what to do next."Returning to Afghanistan is not an option for us - it would be incredibly challenging," she said. "Our children have already lost years of education, and we have no hope of safely going back." More than 8,300 family members of US citizens are ready for an interview in Afghanistan, with more than 11,400 others awaiting family reunification, according to US Department of State data shared by who asked to be identified by his nickname, is one of the 200,000 Afghans who have already reached the US, because he worked directly for the US military. He is now a US sister, however, remains in Afghanistan where she and her husband are "living in a hide and seek game", he says. They change their address and city every couple months in order to stay passed the background and medical checks for refugee resettlement, but like the others who spoke to the BBC, they became trapped when the process was paused in latest order has made Mojo, who lives in Houston, Texas, and the rest of his family lose "all our hope completely" ."I wish that he would change his mind, make some exception, change the rules or take his order back and let people have a peaceful life," he said. Pakistan expels tens of thousands of AfghansAfghans hiding in Pakistan live in fear of forced deportationEx-US generals describe chaos of Afghanistan withdrawal The ban also affects Afghans who are not trying to reach the US for Ghafari is studying at Cornell University in New York state, but is currently in Germany for the summer with her young said she began a "frantic" race back to the US on Thursday in order to continue her studies, before the start of the travel ban on ban has put her under "immense pressure" and has made her feel "very vulnerable", the the 30-year-old former politician told the makes it worse, she said, was that she regularly had to return to Germany every few months to maintain her residency status there too. Describing her situation as "precarious", she said she worried about how she could make her regular trips to Germany when the travel ban VanDiver, of AfghanEvac, said the ban broke a promise Americans had made to Afghans over the 20 years they were in the country."This policy punishes people who escaped the Taliban, risked everything to support democracy, are already vetted, were told by the US government to wait," he wrote on social media platform X."They're not threats. They're our allies - and they're being left behind."Meanwhile, many of those still in Afghanistan have other problems to contend one Afghan man in Kabul told AFP news agency: "We don't even have bread, why are you asking me about travelling to America?"Additional reporting by Azadeh Moshiri and Gabriela Pomeroy
The Guardian
2 days ago
- The Guardian
How ordinary men became unpaid Taliban enforcers in their own homes
To be a father of daughters in the Taliban's Afghanistan has become a daily nightmare for Amir. Now, he says, he is more prison guard than loving parent, an unwilling and unpaid enforcer of a system of gender apartheid that he despises yet feels compelled to inflict on his two teenage girls in order to protect them from the Taliban's rage and reprisals. Just a few years ago, Amir's daughters had a life and a future. They went to school, to see friends and moved around their community. Now, he says he would prefer it if his daughters never left the house. He, like many other fathers in Afghanistan, has heard stories about what can happen to young women who find themselves in the crosshairs of the Taliban's 'morality police'. In the rare instances when their begging and pleading to be allowed out in the world gets too much for him, he ensures they go accompanied by a male member of the family and are fully covered. 'I insist that they wear the hijab and I tell them they are not allowed to laugh outside the house or at the market,' he says. 'The 'morality police' are very strict, and if they don't comply, they might get detained.' Last summer, three years after they swept to power in August 2021, the scale of the Taliban's ambition to erase women from public life was laid bare in their unveiling of an extensive set of 'vice and virtue' laws. Under the new rules, women were told to cover themselves completely when outside the house; not to allow their voices to be heard talking loudly; to only appear in public with a male escort and never to look at a man who was not their direct relation. When the rules were announced, it was unclear how a relatively small number of 'morality police' employed by the Taliban would enforce and implement these rules. Yet, in the months since the rules were announced, it has been fathers, brothers and husbands who have become, in effect, unpaid foot soldiers imposing the Taliban's oppressive regime on Afghanistan's women and girls. They are driven not just by fear of what will happen to women if apprehended by Taliban enforcers. Under the Taliban's new rules, if a woman is deemed to be found in breach of its morality rules, it is her male relative, not her, who could be punished and face fines or even prison. The Guardian and Rukhshana Media spoke to more than a dozen men, as well as young women across Afghanistan, about how the Taliban's morality laws were changing their attitudes and behaviours towards the women in their families. 'Men have become unpaid soldiers of the Taliban,' says Jawid Hakimi, from Bamyan province. 'We are forced, for the sake of our honour, reputation and social standing, to enforce the Taliban's orders on the women in our families. Day by day, society is adjusting to the Taliban's rules, and their restrictions [on women] are gradually reshaping society according to their vision – and we feel compelled to align our families with their expectations. It is a suffocating atmosphere.' Parwiz, a young man from a province in the north-east of Afghanistan says when his sister was detained by the Taliban's 'morality police' for not wearing a hijab, he was terrified for her safety and determined that this would never happen again. 'I was forced to go to the police station, where I was insulted and told I had to do whatever the Taliban said,' he says. 'When I came home, I took out all my anger and frustration on my mother and sister.' Other men who spoke of how the fear of social shame if they were punished for 'immoral' behaviour was spilling over into repression and violence towards their female family members. Freshta, a young woman from Badakhshan province, says she is beaten by her husband if she leaves the house, even to get food at the market. 'I went to the corner of the street to buy vegetables and I had put on a long, black hijab but no burqa. When I returned, he hit me across the face and beat me. He said: 'Do you want us to break the rules? What if one of my work colleagues saw you?' For months now I have barely left the house. He says if I do leave I need to wear the burqa.' Rabia, 22, says he cannot risk the family facing the 'dishonour' of his elder sister Maryam going out and people thinking that she is dressed immodestly. 'Our pride doesn't allow it. We have shame, we have honour. We can't bear the thought that, God forbid, something might be said about her in the city or the market,' he says. Young women spoke of the pain of their families turning into enforcers of a morality code imposed on them by an extremist ideology that had already stripped them of their right to education, work and self-autonomy. 'My father's behaviour changed after the Taliban came. Before that, he didn't care much about our [his daughters'] clothing,' says 25-year-old Masha. 'Before, he never told us not to wear something or to avoid certain places, but as soon as the Taliban came he changed. He said: 'If you consider me your father and care about the dignity of your family you will wear the hijab. Don't wear makeup, not even a strand of your hair should be visible, don't wear high-heeled shoes, and you don't need to go out so often. Tell me or your brothers so we can get it for you from the market,'' she says. 'So now every time I have my period I have to go without sanitary products or medicine. I just stay inside.' Richard Bennett, the UN's special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan says that, while he has documented 'acts of resistance' from Afghan men against the Taliban's institutionalised repression of women, 'within families, male family members are increasingly enforcing restrictions on their female relatives, and more women report needing permission to leave their homes. There are also increasing reports of female family members ensuring compliance.' 'The presence of de facto officials and suspected informers in communities, the threat of constant surveillance and the unpredictability of enforcement are further contributing to feelings of insecurity, heightening psychological stress and anxiety, especially among young women,' he says.
