The Afghan schoolgirls forced to return to repression by Iran

Telegraph

5 days ago

A 17 year-old contemplates suicide. A 15 year-old is forced intochild marriage. A nine year-old cries outside her school, knowing she'll never set foot inside again.
This is the reality for tens of thousands of Afghan girls in Iran who are now being deported to a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, where their right to education has been systematically destroyed.
Iran's interior ministry said it will offer online education to Afghan schoolgirls who the Islamic Regime are forcing to leave the country with their families by the end of this month.
Nader Yarahmadi, the head of the ministry's immigration office, said Iran can only enrol students with ID numbers and residency documents in its school – something that some Afghans refugees do not have.
But families facing deportation told The Telegraph the government's promise of online education is a baseless claim to justify their deportation.
The measures are part of a broader crackdown by Iran that uses spying accusations as a pretext for mass arrests and deportations following its recent conflict with Israel.
Since early June, nearly 450,000 Afghan refugees, many who arrived after the Taliban returned to power in 2021, have been deported and 5,000 children separated from their parents, according to UN agencies.
Afghans in Iran have long been blamed for the economic problems, but the crackdown has become much harsher since the recent conflict with Israel.
During its 12-day war, daily deportations jumped from 2,000 to over 30,000 as Iranian authorities turned public anger toward the vulnerable minority.
Some 50 kilometres north of Tehran, in Karaj, nine-year-old Nafas and her family have already received a deportation order.
They've packed their belongings and are set to leave for Afghanistan next week. The family fled to Iran after the fall of Kabul, as her father's job with the Western-backed government put them at risk under the Taliban.
Farhad, Nafas's father, said: 'She and her sister used to memorise poems, record themselves reciting them, and send the videos to their teacher.
'But now they're both depressed. They hardly eat and cry themselves to sleep every night.'
Nafas was set to start third grade (the equivalent to the UK's Year Four) this September, and her 12-year-old sister Neda was entering fifth grade. They had been looking forward to a school trip with their teacher and classmates later this month.
'They went to their school the other day to say goodbye to their teachers. It was heartbreaking. I couldn't bear to watch and had to walk away,' said Farhad.
'This is not what human dignity should look like. I no longer worry about my own safety in Afghanistan, I worry about what will happen to my children.'
He said the girls are now on school holidays, but Nafas still walks to school and stands outside, tears in her eyes.
'She doesn't want to leave her friends, and neither does her sister,' her father said. 'They're so innocent. I feel deeply guilty that I can't give them even the most basic right: education and a chance at happiness. A nine and 12-year-old shouldn't be crying over school. They should be learning, not longing to learn.'
Schoolgirls returning to Afghanistan are increasingly facing child marriage, driven by traditional rural beliefs and financial hardship.
Afsaneh, 15, was forced to return to Afghanistan two months ago. Now, her family is arranging her marriage.
Firouz, her brother, said Afsaneh had been doing well in school and wanted to continue her studies. Now, their father wants to marry her off to a man in his 20s.
'I've tried to stop him,' he said. 'But I have no say in the matter... Now she cries all the time.'
Their father insists that in their village, if a girl is not married by her age, 'people start talking badly about her'.
The girls in Iran are trapped in limbo and are struggling with the prospect of leaving their education and friends behind.
Mahnaz, 17, not her real name, has considered suicide rather than face deportation.
'I've thought about killing myself,' she said. 'Dying. It's better than going to Afghanistan and falling into the Taliban's hands and with no school.'
Mahnaz was born and raised in Iran and had legal documents, like her mother's family. But her life fell apart eight years ago when her father's severe drug addiction broke up the family.
'My father became severely addicted and it was very difficult,' she said. 'He beat all of us. He beat my mum. He beat me. He intentionally burned my hand when he was using drugs. The mark is still there.'
Mahnaz's father attempted suicide and her mother later filed for divorce after years of abuse. But without the male head of household, their residency documents expired and became invalid.
In Iran, if the father of a refugee family loses his documents, the whole family risks losing theirs. Mahnaz's father disappeared and with him, their legal status.
'When they expired, me and my mum were left alone,' Mahnaz said. 'We wanted to go to school. To study. Go to a clinic. Go to a hospital. But they wanted documents. We were stuck.'
Eventually, they received new census forms, allowing Mahnaz to enroll in high school and her younger brother to continue their education.
But with the census, the Islamic Republic can easily find the refugees whose legal status remains uncertain and deport them. Those fully documented by the UN for decades cannot be easily sent back.
'They gave census holders exit forms,' she said. 'We have about 20 days to see what happens to our situation.'
The deadline is the end of July for the schoolgirls to leave the country, according to Iranian media. After that, families like Mahnaz face deportation to a country where the Taliban has banned girls from attending school beyond primary grades and barred women from most jobs.
At the Afghanistan border, aid workers witness the daily reality of forced returns.
Faraidoon Osmani, who works for the Mercy Corps humanitarian NGO at the Herat border crossing, said between 24,000 to 30,000 people arrive daily from Iran.
'The situation is very bad,' Mr Osmani said. 'The people who come, almost all of them, were forcibly expelled.'
Families are being torn apart in the deportation process. 'You will see a lot of children unaccompanied at the border,' Mr Osmani said. 'Half the family stayed in Iran, half the family came to the border. Some children who are under 18 years old were also expelled.'
Mr Osmani also believes that Iran's promise of online tuition is unrealistic for most returnees.
'The majority of our people live in villages and remote areas,' he said. 'Many people don't have mobile phones, let alone having the internet.'
Since taking power in August 2021, the Taliban has severely limited women's rights in Afghanistan.
Women now face rules that control nearly every part of their lives; from being forced to cover their faces and banned from driving, to not being allowed to talk to men or choose how they dress.
In the small town outside Tehran, Mahnaz works from 9 am until 11 pm, constantly checking on their legal status while trying to support her family.
She dreams of university, of helping others, of a future that seems increasingly impossible.
'I really want to continue my studies and go to university,' she said. 'I want to reach somewhere so that I can help others.'