Those who fled Afghanistan fearing gender apartheid have been forced back to live in a society in which, without a male ‘guardian’, they cannot work or rent a home, leaving them in poverty and open to abuse.
Read original post in THE GUARDIAN and ZEN TIMES – 4/8/25
Safia* thought she had finally found safety for herself and her children. After years of violence and hardship at the hands of her husband, a police officer who became a Taliban commander in the western province of Herat, Safia and her two children had fled to Iran in 2018 to start a new life.
There, with the help of other refugee Afghan women, she had started a small clothing business and had built a fragile but dignified life for herself and her family.
Two weeks ago, that all collapsed when Safia and her teenage children were given a deportation notice. They joined hundreds of thousands of other refugees being rounded up and forced back over the border into Afghanistan.
Now back in Herat, Safia lives in daily terror of her husband and his family.
Safia* thought she had finally found safety for herself and her children. After years of violence and hardship at the hands of her husband, a police officer who became a Taliban commander in the western province of Herat, Safia and her two children had fled to Iran in 2018 to start a new life.
There, with the help of other refugee Afghan women, she had started a small clothing business and had built a fragile but dignified life for herself and her family.
Two weeks ago, that all collapsed when Safia and her teenage children were given a deportation notice. They joined hundreds of thousands of other refugees being rounded up and forced back over the border into Afghanistan.
Now back in Herat, Safia lives in daily terror of her husband and his family.
Safia* thought she had finally found safety for herself and her children. After years of violence and hardship at the hands of her husband, a police officer who became a Taliban commander in the western province of Herat, Safia and her two children had fled to Iran in 2018 to start a new life.
There, with the help of other refugee Afghan women, she had started a small clothing business and had built a fragile but dignified life for herself and her family.
Two weeks ago, that all collapsed when Safia and her teenage children were given a deportation notice. They joined hundreds of thousands of other refugees being rounded up and forced back over the border into Afghanistan.
Now back in Herat, Safia lives in daily terror of her husband and his family.
Safia* thought she had finally found safety for herself and her children. After years of violence and hardship at the hands of her husband, a police officer who became a Taliban commander in the western province of Herat, Safia and her two children had fled to Iran in 2018 to start a new life.
There, with the help of other refugee Afghan women, she had started a small clothing business and had built a fragile but dignified life for herself and her family.
Two weeks ago, that all collapsed when Safia and her teenage children were given a deportation notice. They joined hundreds of thousands of other refugees being rounded up and forced back over the border into Afghanistan.
Now back in Herat, Safia lives in daily terror of her husband and his family.
Safia* thought she had finally found safety for herself and her children. After years of violence and hardship at the hands of her husband, a police officer who became a Taliban commander in the western province of Herat, Safia and her two children had fled to Iran in 2018 to start a new life.
There, with the help of other refugee Afghan women, she had started a small clothing business and had built a fragile but dignified life for herself and her family.
Two weeks ago, that all collapsed when Safia and her teenage children were given a deportation notice. They joined hundreds of thousands of other refugees being rounded up and forced back over the border into Afghanistan.
Now back in Herat, Safia lives in daily terror of her husband and his family.
Read original post in THE GUARDIAN and ZEN TIMES