Anywhere to run: Afghan refugees who fell into the Israeli war on Iran Israel Iran

Friday, June 13, Matthew Israeli missiles began to rain on TehranShamsi was reminded again of a twice as much as she and her family.

The 34 -year -old Afghan mother was working in her sewing job in northern Tehran. In a state of panic and fear, she rushed home to find her daughters, who were between the ages of five and seven, gathering under a table in horror.

Shamsi fled the Taliban rule in Afghanistan just a year ago, hoping that Iran will provide safety. Now, not documented and frightening, she finds herself stuck in another dangerous position – this time without shelter, no position, and no way out.

“She escaped from the Taliban, but the bombs were raining over our heads here,” she told the island’s solar from her home in northern Tehran, asking to refer to her only her first name, for security reasons. “We came here for safety, but we did not know where to go.”

Shamsi, a former activist in Afghanistan and her husband, a former soldier in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan before the Taliban returned to power in 2021, to Iran on a temporary visa, afraid of revenge against the Taliban because of their work. But they were unable to renew their visas due to the cost, the condition of leaving Iran and re-entering through the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan-a journey that is likely to be very dangerous.

Life in Iran was not easy. Without legal residency, Shamsi does not have protection at work, nor a bank account, and help cannot be accessed. “There was no help from the Iranians, or from any international organization,” she said.

It made the power outage in Tehran made it difficult to find information or contact with the family.

She said: “Without a driver’s license, we cannot move. Every crossroads in Tehran are strongly searched by the police,” noting that they were able to circumvent the restrictions of buying food before Israel began bombingBut as soon as it started, it became much more difficult.

Iran hosts an estimated 3.5 million refugees and people in refugee -like situations, including about 750,000 Afghans registered. But more than 2.6 million people are not documented. Since the Taliban returned to power and US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, thousands of Afghans, including activists, journalists, former soldiers and other vulnerable people, have expressed to Iran in search of a shelter.

It is said that the province of Tehran alone hosts 1.5 million Afghan refugees-the majority of them are not documented-and as Israel targeted the sites in and around the capital, and attacking civil and military sites during the 12-day conflict, many Afghans were starkly reminded of their weakness-unjustly unjustly and not subject to access to emergency assistance, or even reliable information during air invasions. The Internet has been closed For large periods of time.

While many fled from Tehran to the north of Iran, Afghan refugees like Shamsi and her family had no place to go to.

On the night of June 22, it shook the explosion of its neighborhood, and broke the windows of the family apartment. She said, “I was awake until three in the morning, and after an hour of sleep, another explosion woke me.”

An entire apartment was settled near its building. “I have prepared a bag with the main elements of my children to be ready if something happens to our sons.”

June 23 cease-fire The country and the United States have been a great relief, but now there are other problems: the Shamsi family is almost outside the money. The employer, who used to pushing her, left the city and will not answer its calls. “He has disappeared,” she said. “When I (previously) asked my unpaid salary, he just said:” You are an Afghan immigrant, the exit, outside,. “

Human cost of conflict

For all the Afghans trapped in Iran – both of them were forced to flee and those who stayed in their homes – The conflict for 12 days With Israel, it sharply tightened the feelings of shock and displacement.

Moreover, according to the Iranian health authorities, three Afghan immigrants – who were identified as Hafiz Bustani, Abdul -Wahiballah Jamshaidi – were among the 610 people who were killed in recent strikes.

On June 18 / according to the victim’s father, Abdel -Ali left his studies in Afghanistan about six months ago to work in Iran to feed his family. In a video clip that Abdel -Ali’s friends shared widely, his colleagues can be heard on the construction site calling him to leave the building while loud explosions in the background hesitated.

Other Afghans are still missing since Israeli strikes. Hakami, an elderly Afghan man from the province of Takhar in Afghanistan, told Al -Jazeera that he had not heard from three of his grandchildren in Iran for a period of four days. He said: “They were stuck inside a building site in the center of Tehran without food.”

He explained that all that he knows is that they retreated to the basement of the incomplete residential building they were working on when they heard the sound of the bombs. The nearby stores have been closed, and the Iranian employer fled to the city without paying wages.

He added that even if they survive, they are not documented. “If they go out, they will be deported by the police,” Hakami said.

From one danger to another

During the conflict, Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Researcher, urged all parties to protect Afghan immigrants in Iran, warned of serious risks to their safety and calling for immediate humanitarian guarantees.

Afghan activist Laila Furu Muhammadi, who is now living outside the country, is using social media to raise awareness about the terrible circumstances faced by the Afghans in Iran. She said, “People cannot move, they cannot speak.” “Most of them do not have legal documents, and this puts them in a dangerous position where they cannot even recover unpaid wages from the employees who are deserted.”

She also explained that amid the conflict of Iran and Israel, there is no governmental body that supports Afghans. She said: “There is no bureaucracy to address their situation. We have feared an escalation of violence between Iran and Israel for the safety of our people.”

In the end, those who managed to evacuate the most dangerous regions of Iran mostly help Afghan organizations.

The AWACB Coordination Coordination Authority, part of the European Integration Organization, helped hundreds of women – who fled the Taliban because of its activist work – and their families to flee. They moved from high-risk areas such as Tehran, Estehan and QOM-the main nuclear establishments sites that targeted Israel and the United States-to safer cities such as Manshad in the northeast of the country. The group also helped communicate with families in Afghanistan during the continuous power outages in Iran.

“Our ability is limited. We can only support official members in AWACB,” said Dr. Patone Tishman, the founder of the group, speaking to the island before the ceasefire. “We have evacuated 103 women from among our 450 members, most of whom are Afghan women’s rights activists and the demonstrators who gathered against Blocking women’s education He fled from Afghanistan. “

“I cannot return to the Taliban”

Iran recently announced plans to deport up to two million illegal Afghans, but during the 12 -day conflict, some made the decision to return anyway despite the risks and difficulties they might face there.

World Vision Afghanistan said that during the 12 -day war, nearly 7,000 Afghans crossed daily from Iran to Afghanistan through the borders of Islam said in Herat. “People only reach clothes on their backs,” said Mark Cal, the field representative. “They are shocked, confused and returned home are still in an economic and social fall.”

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) expressed his strong concerns about the deterioration of the humanitarian situation of the Afghans in Iran, adding that he is monitoring reports that people are in a state of transfer within Iran and that some are leaving for neighboring countries.

Even as Israeli strikes stop, tensions remain high, and the number of Afghans fleeing from Iran is expected to rise.

But for many, there is no place to go.

Once again in northern Tehran, Shamsi sits next to her daughter watching an Iranian news channel. “We came here for safety,” she said quietly. When I was asked what to do if the situation increases, Shamsi does not hesitate: “I will stay here with my family. I cannot return to the Taliban.”

This piece was published in cooperation with egab.