After Deportation by Shahram Khosravi

Author:Shahram Khosravi
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

Families and Women: Fear and a Lack of Trust

Among the most vulnerable of the deportees are women and minors: they are more vulnerable to the risks and dangers of migration and deportation than male adults are. The research team spoke to 14 women in Herat, and 16 women in Nimroz, who arrived without their families over the course of one week. Female deportees are usually always over the age of 18, there are no female unaccompanied minors according to a field export from the organisation, War Child. Additionally, over 100 families (35%) stated requiring medical assistance, 71% food and water, and 60% clothing—all immediate needs expressed at the border. Undocumented Afghan families outnumber registered refugees in Iran. The Government of Iran has insisted on repatriation as the preferred solution for the undocumented Afghans residing in Iran. In 2002, a voluntary repatriation process agreed upon in a tripartite agreement, among the Governments of Iran and Afghanistan, and UNHCR, led to the return of over 5.8 million refugees from Iran and Pakistan. The rate of voluntary returns among refugees from Iran to Afghanistan has, however, dropped, reaching an almost null figure in recent years. Against this drop, the trend of forced returns has risen, to include undocumented families who left for Iran at the onset of conflict in Afghanistan.

Families, and women among them, are visibly marked by the experience of deportation and of an unexpected, unwanted return. When families and women arrive on Afghan soil, stepping off loaded buses, they are free to walk away, should they choose to. At the border, officials and NGOs are instructed to provide free transportation to women and a temporary shelter at a nearby transit centre, where they also receive food and non-food items. In discussions with one Afghan official, we were told, “sometimes, ten families will be deported together. However, if one woman among them decides not to listen to us, all of them will leave. If one of them rejects the assistance we offer, then we know we have lost all chance to get the other women, men, and children to come to us.” Women’s priority is to avoid being trapped, harassed or bothered to such an extent that some will refuse the assistance offered to them by the government or aid agencies. The experience of deportation has led to a lack of trust in authority, a lack of willingness to rely on external support, even in their own homeland, making them reject any form of authority or assistance. This form of agency, as they are capable to go against the readiness of male relatives to accept the assistance, can jeopardise their own safety. Their own choices, made out of fear and of the harm experienced in the journey, bias their reaction upon return.

The deportation process—from arrest, to detention, deportation, and arrival in Afghanistan—shows a complete lack of any female authority figure that female deportees may be able to trust or turn to, such as social counsellors or nurses. Women and families are taken by men, treated by men, and returned by men.

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