The Endless Cycle of Afghan Immigration to Iran

 

Afghan Immigrants on the Way to Iran-AFP 

I have crossed the borders of Iran and Afghanistan, passing through stones, thorns, thieves, and bandits. The Iranian border guards are corrupt and ruthless, just like the Taliban, Pakistani, and any other border guards anywhere in the world. I worked as a laborer in Iran. Some Iranian employers are also cruel, deceitful, and hypocritical. However, I cannot forget the kindness of Hajji Akbar Esfahani and Mashdi Mohammad, who transported me to and from work in their car through alternative routes to avoid the police. I remember how Hajji Akbar was fined by the police for transporting Afghan workers from the work site to their homes, and how, when the traffic police contacted the regular police to come and arrest us on the highway, Hajji Akbar helped us escape.

I also cannot forget the day I worked from morning until evening in the hot, hellish greenhouse of "Arbab Reza," only to be kicked out at the end of the day without a single penny. Then there was the man in Mashhad who pretended to be a host and taxi driver, but instead of taking us to the Afghanistan border, he delivered us to the Chaharcheshmeh camp, from which we were transferred to the hellish Safid Sang camp. The details of what we experienced there are another story. I have described all of this in a book that was published in both Swedish and Farsi.

I believe that migration to Iran has become a part of daily life for Afghans. A large portion of my generation—my childhood playmates, neighbors, and relatives—have, since they learned to walk and talk, taken the road to Iran. After years of commuting back and forth, they are still laborers. One has a slipped disc, another’s right leg no longer functions, one has a crooked shoulder, and another has developed rheumatism. Their fathers, too, spent their lives laboring in Iran, and now they follow in the same path. This is a cycle of futility—a vicious circle of suffering where laziness becomes normalized, and living in hell becomes a habit. My words are directed at those who go to Iran seeking labor, not those who seek refuge from the Taliban’s noose.

Someone among the workers must break this cycle of false hope in Iran’s farms and fields. Those who have fled to Iran fearing execution by the Taliban have no other choice, but we must admit that a large part of the migration to Iran is the result of laziness, ignorance, and an ingrained habit of evading responsibility.

Take my village as an example. When I was a child, most of the fathers of the families worked in Iran. Later, when the young boys reached the ages of 14, 15, and 16 and got engaged, they would go to Iran to earn money for the dowry and wedding expenses. Most of my generation are now fathers, and in recent years, the third generation from the same village has been working in Iran. Just a few days ago, a 15-year-old boy from the village got engaged and went to Iran to gather 400,000 Afghanis by laboring in Iranian fields to give to the girl’s father. What has forced this 15-year-old boy to risk crossing the border, forsaking school, and working in Iran’s farms and construction sites? A large proportion of the Afghan teenagers and young men who migrate to Iran belong to this group.

On the other hand, amid all this chaos and danger, Iran has the right to protect its borders. Migration is a part of human life and history, but no country or nation can indefinitely tolerate mass migration that follows no rules or laws.

As an Afghan citizen with experience laboring in Iranian fields, being imprisoned in the Chaharcheshmeh and Safid Sang camps, and crossing dangerous borders, I believe that aside from those whose lives are threatened by the Taliban, the rest should seek their livelihood in their own country. If the Iranian government, like European countries, strengthens its borders and implements a process to identify individuals who genuinely deserve residence and protection, it will improve the country’s security and lead to more regulated migration.

At some point in history, we must learn that if we cannot provide for 10 children, we should settle for two, three, or at most four, so they can live with dignity and not become prey to wolves and hyenas at the borders in search of a piece of bread.

We must learn to teach our children skills, professions, and knowledge, because laboring in fields is a vicious cycle that cannot save even a hundred generations from misery, hunger, and poverty.

We must learn that if our fathers made mistakes and left a foolish legacy behind, it is our duty to start anew. There may be many excuses to reject these words, just as one of my brothers, who dropped out of the private university that I pay for, is now obsessively thinking of going to Iran to work in the fields of Esfahan. But if we do not address this situation, today and tomorrow will bring nothing but more ruin.