No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
The Iranian Afghans
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2022
Abstract
Emigration from Afghanistan is the product of socio-political circumstances—drought, regime changes, wars—and economic structures—pastoralism and agricultural seasonal cycles—but it is also situated in a historical continuum of recurrent population movements on a regional scale. As a phenomenon, it has been well-researched in Pakistan, but has been less well understood from the Iranian side. However, many Afghans, notably but not exclusively Hazaras, have settled there since the end of the nineteenth century. Immigration from Afghanistan intensified from the 1970s onwards following the Iranian oil boom and drought in Afghanistan and the political turbulence in that country after 1978. The policies of the Islamic Republic towards this population have been both variable and inconsistent. Recently, their main priority has been the repatriation of Afghans in an atmosphere of both official and popular xenophobia. The experience of exile has resulted in important social changes, in particular with respect to education and the position of women. Moreover, the Afghan presence on Iranian soil appears to be irreversible: it satisfies economic needs, reflects the intensity of commercial exchanges between the two countries, and in itself constitutes a complex trans-border reality. Finally, it sustains a public and juridical debate on the definition of citizenship and appears to be inherent in the idea of the Iranian nation itself.
Information
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © The International Society for Iranian Studies 2007
Footnotes
1
The first part of this paper was written by Olszewska based on nine months of fieldwork conducted among Afghans in Iran between 2004 and 2006. The subsequent two sections, the introduction and the conclusion, were written by Adelkhah based on two months of research in Iran from August-September 2005 and ongoing research on border markets since 2000. This is an abridged version of a working paper originally published by CERI in French under the title Les Afghans Iraniens, Les Etudes du CERI, 125 (Paris, April 2006).
References
2 Colville, R., “The Biggest Caseload in the World,” Refugees 108 no. II, (1997): 3–9Google Scholar.
3 Human Rights Watch, Closed Door Policy: Afghan Refugees in Pakistan and Iran, 14 no. 2 (G) (New York, February 2002): 4Google Scholar.
4 Edwards, D. B., “Marginality and Migration: Cultural Dimensions of the Afghan Refugee Problem,” International Migration Review 20 no. 2 (1986): 313CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.
5 See, e.g., Edwards, , “Marginality and Migration”; the contributors to Anderson, E. W. and Dupree, Nancy Hatch, The Cultural Basis of Afghan Nationalism (London, 1990)Google Scholar; and Centlivres, Pierre and Centlivres-Demont, Micheline, Et si on parlait de l'Afghanistan? Terrains et textes, 1964–1980 (Paris, 1988)Google Scholar.
6 Pedersen, G., “Afghan Nomads in Exile: Patterns of Organization and Reorganization in Pakistan,” The Cultural Basis of Afghan Nationalism (London, 1990)Google Scholar.
7 Monsutti, Alessandro, Guerres et Migrations: Réseaux Sociaux et Stratégies Économiques des Hazaras d'Afghanistan (Neuchatel/Paris, 2004), 135, 190Google Scholar.
8 Monsutti, Guerres et Migrations, 161–2.
9 Monsutti, A., “La migration comme rite de passage: La construction de la masculinité parmi les jeunes Afghan en Iran,” Genre, nouvelle division internationale du travail et migrations (Geneva, 2005)Google Scholar.
10 Monsutti Guerres et Migrations, 186.
11 Edwards, “Marginality and Migration,” 317.
12 Pahlavan, C., “Afghan Immigrants in Persia,” Encyclopedia Iranica vol. 7: 385Google Scholar; Centlivres, P. and Centlivres-Demont, M., “Exil et diaspora afghane en Suisse et en Europe” CEMOTI 30 (June-December 2000): 151CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
13 UNHCR, “Afghan Refugee Statistics (6 May 2001),” http://www.un.org.pk/unhcr/Afstats-stat.htm
14 UNHCR, Report from Refugees in Iran NGO Seminar (July 1992), 4.
15 Abbasi-Shavazi, Mohammad Jalal, Glazebrook, Diana, Jamshidiha, Gholamreza, Mahmoudian, Hossein and Sadeghi, Rasoul, Return to Afghanistan? A Study of Afghans Living in Mashhad, Islamic Republic of Iran (Kabul, 2005), 19Google Scholar.
16 Ruiz, Hiram A., U.S. Committee for Refugees Returns to Iran, Finds: Iran Ready to Open Doors to Western NGOs; Afghan Repatriation Off to a Slow Start (Washington, D.C., 1992), 3Google Scholar.
17 International Consortium for Refugees in Iran (ICRI), Afghan Women and Children in Iran: A Study of Hard Work and Hope (Tehran, 1998), 1Google Scholar.
18 Abbasi-Shavasi et al., Return to Afghanistan?, 16.
19 Foyouzat, Forugh, Report on Visit to Mashhad, ICRI Report (Tehran, 18 August 1996), 1Google Scholar.
20 Human Rights Watch, Closed Door Policy, 4.
21 Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN), “Afghanistan: Forcible Returns from Iran Continue,” (20 February 2002), http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=21830&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN. The UNHCR, however, has won the right to screen deportees for particularly vulnerable cases or those with a well-founded fear of persecution: cf. UNHCR, “Briefing Note: UNHCR Sub-Office in Mashhad, Khorassan Province, The Islamic Republic of Iran,” (Mashhad, 3 October 2004).
22 United States Committee for Refugees (USCR), World Refugee Survey 2000 (Washington, D.C., 2000)Google Scholar.
23 Amnesty International, “Iran: Are Returning Afghan Refugees Properly Protected?” Public Statement, MDE 13/028/2000 News Service No. 183 (26 September 2000).
24 IRIN, “Afghanistan-Iran: UNHCR Concerned Over Wave of Refugee Arrests,” (12 January 2005), http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45021&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN-IRAN.
25 UNHCR, “Briefing Note.”
26 These and subsequent statistics from BAFIA/ UNHCR, Amayesh and Repatriation Database (Tehran, 11 November 2005).
27 Abbasi-Shavazi, et al., Return to Afghanistan?, 1.
28 Turton, David and Marsden, Peter, Taking Refugees for a Ride? The Politics of Refugee Return to Afghanistan (Kabul, December 2002), 12Google Scholar.
29 Turton and Marsden, Taking Refugees for a Ride?, 31; Abbasi-Shavazi, et al., Return to Afghanistan?, 15–18.
30 IRIN, “Iran: Special on Afghan refugees” (29 June 2004), http://www.irinnews.org/S_report.asp?ReportID=41904&SelectRegion=Central_Asia.
31 IRIN, “Iran: Interview with UNHCR Head to Mark the Return of One Million Afghan Refugees,” (2 September 2004), http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=_Asia42985&SelectRegion=Central_Asia
32 UNHCR, “Afghanistan: Challenges to Return,” (Geneva, March 2004).
33 See Ruiz, U.S. Committee for Refugees Returns to Iran; Turton and Marsden, Taking Refugees for a Ride?, and Abbasi-Shavazi, et al., Return to Afghanistan?
34 Monsutti, Guerres et Migrations, 168–9.
35 Hassan Kakar, M., Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979–82 (Berkeley, 1995), 79CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
36 Mills, Margaret A., Rhetorics and Politics in Afghan Traditional Storytelling (Philadelphia, 1991), 3CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
37 Hoodfar, H., “Families on the Move: The Changing Role of Afghan Refugee Women in Iran,” Hawwa, ii (2004): 141–171CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
38 Squire, Catherine, Education of Afghan Refugees in the Islamic Republic of Iran (Tehran, December 2000)Google Scholar.
39 Abbasi-Shavazi, et al., Return to Afghanistan?, 21.
40 See ICRI, Report on Developments; Squire, Education of Afghan Refugees; S. Sarhaddi-Nelson, “Afghan Refugees in Iran Learn to Keep School a Secret,” Los Angeles Times (25 December 2001).
41 Squire, Education of Afghan Refugees.
42 Chatty, Dawn and Crivello, Gina, Lessons Learned Report, Children and Adolescents in Sahrawi and Afghan Refugee Households: Living with the Effects of Prolonged Armed Conflict and Forced Migration (Oxford, 2005), 20Google Scholar.
43 Indeed, Ali Mohaqqeq Nasab, a Hazara cleric and women's rights magazine editor who was recently convicted of blasphemy in Afghanistan, was a recent returnee from Iran and former seminary student. His crime was the questioning of strict Shari‘a punishments, or the principle that a woman's testimony is equal to half of a man's.
44 Squire, Education of Afghan Refugees.
45 Banuazizi, Ali and Weiner, Myron, eds., The State, Religion, and Ethnic Politics. Afghanistan Iran, and Pakistan, (Syracuse, 1986), 27 ffGoogle Scholar.
46 Kashani-Sabet, Firoozeh, Frontier Fictions. Shaping the Iranian Nation 1804–1946 (Princeton, 1999), 30Google Scholar.
47 Olivier Roy, Afghanistan: La difficile reconstruction d'un Etat, Cahier de Chaillot, Institut d'Etudes de Sécurité 73 (December 2004).
48 On the irredentist policy of the Qajars and more generally of the nationalist Iranian elite, see Kashani-Sabet, Frontier Fictions,in particular p. 19 ff; on the Iranian-British dispute over Herat, see p. 30 ff.; on the resurgence of Persian irredentist feeling at the time of the Versailles Conference in 1919, see p. 150 ff.
49 Kashani-Sabet, Frontier Fictions, 33 ff.
50 See Dupree, Louis, Afghanistan (Princeton, 1980)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Centlivres, P. and Centlivres-Demont, M., “Pratiques quotidiennes et usages politiques des termes ethniques dans l'Afghanistan du Nord-Est,” Le fait ethnique en Iran et en Afghanistan (Paris, 1988)Google Scholar; as well as Dorronsoro, Gilles, La Révolution afghane (Paris, 2000)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
51 Banuazizi and Weiner, The State, Religion, and Ethnic Politics, 92–95; Tapper, R., “Introduction,” The Conflict of Tribe and State in Iran and Afghanistan (London, 1983): 35Google Scholar; Roy, Olivier, L'Afghanistan. Islam et modernité politique (Paris, 1985)Google Scholar.
52 Mousavi, Seyed Askar, The Hazaras of Afghanistan: An Historical, Cultural, Economic and Political Study (Richmond, 1998), 148–150Google Scholar; Monsutti, Guerres et Migrations, 136.
53 Pouladi, Hasan, The Hazara, History, Culture, Politics & Economy [Persian edition] (Tehran, 1381/2002), 357Google Scholar.
54 Keddie, Nikki, Sayyid Jamāl ad-Dīn al-Afghānī: A Political Biography (Berkeley, 1972), 5 ffGoogle Scholar; Nategh, Homa, Djamal-ed-Din Assad Abadi, dit Afghani (Paris, 1969)Google Scholar. Afghani is also said to have been born in Konar, Afghanistan, rather than Iran, as is written in three languages on his mausoleum. He died in 1897 in Istanbul and his coffin was returned to Afghanistan ten years later, in 1906, and buried in Kabul inside what is now the university campus.
55 Markovits, Claude, The Global World of Indian Merchants 1750–1947. Trade of Sind from Bukhara to Panama (Cambridge, 2000)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
56 Heydari, Reza, Born an Exile (Madar mara avareh zaid) (Mashhad, 2004)Google Scholar.
57 Personal observation, summer 2001.
58 Translated by Olszewska with the help of Belgheis Alavi, whom we would like to thank for her invaluable assistance throughout our research.
59 This is one of the largest hosseiniyehs in Mashhad, built in 1990–93 by wealthy Herati businessmen living in Mashhad, led by Haj Gholamhossein Taheri. The space is often rented by Iranians from the neighborhood.
60 Some of these are well known for being the birthplaces of famous personalities like the footballer Khodadad Azizi, the current Member of Parliament of Fariman, Hosseini, or the reformist parliamentarian Zafarzadeh, born in Chartekab, Garmeh, and Narg, respectively.
61 Farhang, Omid, “Kargaran-e afghani, sazandegan-e bi nam va neshan [Afghan workers, anonymous builders (of the Iranian economy)],” in Goft-o-gu 11 (1375/1996), 43–51Google Scholar.
62 Interview with Nahid Ashrafi, director of the NGO Hami, Tehran, September 2005.
63 Sharq (23 azar 1384/2005).
64 Donya-ye Eqtesad (10 khordad 1384/2005), ‘Asr-e Eqtesad (3 khordad 1384/2005).
65 Ong, Aiwa, Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality (Durham, 1999)Google Scholar.
66 Monsutti, A., “Cooperation, Remittance, and Kinship among the Hazaras,” Iranian Studies 37 no. 2 (June 2004): 22–228CrossRefGoogle Scholar; see also his impressive book, Guerres et Migrations. On the role of Afghan traders in the gold market, see Khosrokhavar, F., “Rapports inter-ethniques et marché de l'or. De l'interaction entre les communautés turque, afghane, juive et persane au sein du marché Manoutchehri-Ferdowsi,” Le Fait ethnique en Iran et en Afghanistan (Paris, 1988), 175–182Google Scholar.
67 Iran (11 khordad 1383/2004).
68 The number of Iraqis in Iran was 96,921 as of 2005 (sic!); given the continuously uncertain situation in their country, they have not yet received an ultimatum to leave Iranian territory, and they can even be employed in the public sector (Sharq, 4 ordibehesht 1384/2005).
69 Monsutti cited in Abbasi-Shavazi et al., Return to Afghanistan?, 10.
70 On the case of Oman, see Valeri, Marc, L'Etat—Qabous. Identité nationale et légitimité politique au sultanat d'Oman (1970–2005) (Paris, 2005), 331Google Scholar ff.
71 Massoumeh Shahriyari, “Panahandegan dar estekhdam-e dowlat [Refugees Employed by the State],” Sharq, 4 ordibehesht 1384/2005.
72 On the juridical evolution of the latter from 1900 onwards, see Kashani-Sabet, Frontier Fictions, 53 ff.
73 We would like to thank Maryam-Sadat Golduzian for entrusting us with her Masters thesis, still in manuscript form, for use in this study: Barresi-ye haq-e tabe'iyat beh onvan-e yek haq-e bashari va 'emal-e an dar hoquq-e dakheli-ye Iran [A Study of the Right to Nationality as a Human Right and its Application in the Domestic Law of Iran], Tehran, Allameh Tabatabai University, Department of Law, 1384/2005.
74 “Sefarat-e iran dar afghanestan: Souper-e dallali be ja-ye fa‘aliat-e diplomatik [The Iranian Embassy in Afghanistan: Business or Diplomacy?]”, http://www.baztab.com, 24 and 28 dey 1384/2006.
75 On the difficult situation of Iranian women in Afghanistan, see Farnaz Ghazizadeh, “Afghaniha beravand, zanan-e iranieshan ra ham bebarand! [Afghans Should Leave Iran and Take Their Iranian Wives with Them!],” in http://roozonline.com/01newsstory/008358.shtml; on the legal problems posed by those without documents, see Ali Ghadimis, “Teflak shoghalha [Poor Jackals],” in http://www.ali-gh.com/archives/000175.php; Elaheh Boghrat, “Inja adam khar darad [Cannibals are amongst Us],” in www.alefbe.com/articleAdamkhar.htm.
76 The new arrangement of BAFIA's offices in Mashhad, in the same district as the police headquarters, involves an open layout which will no doubt make it more difficult to bribe officials.
78 See Maryam-Sadat Golduzian, A Study of the Right to Nationality, ch. 3 on the obsolescence of legislation relating to the status of foreigners inherited from the ancien regime; and Bayat, Kaveh, “Mohajerin-e shoravi, nakhostin tajrobeh-ye panahandegi dar Iran [Soviet Refugees: Iran's First Experience of Asylum Cases],” Goft-o-gu 11 (1375/1996): 7–23Google Scholar.
79 Keyhan (7 mordad 1380/2001); Resalat (9 mordad 1380/2001).
80 “Jenayat-e bozorg dar hashieh-ye Tehran [An Outrageous Crime on the Outskirts of Tehran],” Iran (21 shahrivar 1383/2004).
81 To cite just a few articles: F. Khalilpour, “The Crisis of Marriage with a Foreigner,” Hamshahri (25 ordibehesht 1384/2005); F. Qalehdar, “The Honor of Iranians is Threatened: A Crime Named Rape,” ‘Etemad (8 shahrivar 1384/2005); E. Mo‘ini Mehr, “The Uninvited Guests,” Farhang-e Ashti (10 shahrivar 1384/2005); S. Zarabadi, “Neither Authorised nor Illegal,” ‘Etemad (4 ordibehesht 1384/2005); M. Shahryari, “Refugees Employed by the State,” Sharq (4 ordibehest 1384/2005); E. Mo‘ini Mehr, “Children Between Here and There,” (23 tir 1384/2005). It must be emphasized that the authors are almost always women.
82 Elaheh Boghrat, “Inja adam khar darad [Cannibals are amongst Us],” http://www.alefba.com/articleAdamkhar.htm.
83 Banafsheh Samgis, “Biganeh ba qorbanian-e jam‘eh” [Ignorant of Society's Victims], Sharq 24 azar 1383/2004.
84 Alfred Hermida, “Web Gives a Voice to Iranian Women,” http://www.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2044802.stm; Netlex Blogs, “Weblogs iraniens: le sexe cache l'essentiel,” http://www.nellexfrance.com/weblogs/?p=1003; Michael Theodoulou, “Proliferating Iranian Weblogs Give Voice to Taboo Topics,” in http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0623/p07s02-wome.html.
85 On Ayatollah Qazvini's school, City of Knowledge, in Pomona, see Adelkhah, Fariba, Les Iraniens de Californie: si la République islamique n'existait pas, Les Etudes du CERI 75 (Paris, 2001): 19Google Scholar; on the visit to Australia of Hojjat ol-Eslam Seyyed Hassan Navab, president of the Center of Religious Research and Studies, see Jomhuri-ye Eslami (22 shahrivar 1984/2005).
86 F. Adelkhah, “Qui a peur du mollah Omar ? L'économie morale du talebanisme dans le Golfe,” Critique Internationale (12 July 2001): 22–29.
87 Sharq, (9 khordad 1384/2005).
88 Kashani-Sabet, Frontier Fictions, 83.
89 Kashani-Sabet, Frontier Fictions, 53.
90 Kashani-Sabet, Frontier Fictions, 75.
91 Kashani-Sabet, Frontier Fictions, 159.
92 Roy, L'Afghanistan, 283.
93 Bayart, Jean François, Le gouvernement du monde. Une critique politique de la globalization (Paris, 2004), 134Google Scholar ff.
94 Sharq, (28 tir 1384/2005); Keyhan News (9 mehr 1384/2005).
- 49
- Cited by