ADSP Briefing Note – Forced to migrate: Afghan women waiting for protection in Iran and Pakistan
Over the past 40 years, Afghanistan has gone through multiple phases of migration, with Pakistan and Iran being the primary destination for millions of Afghan refugees and other migrants. Initially, Iran and Pakistan both opened their borders to their neighbours and Muslim brothers and sisters. Afghans have crossed and continue to cross these two borders, despite tightening mobility rights (with parts of the territory in Iran and Pakistan forbidden to Afghans), loss of the right to work (Afghans can only work in certain sectors), large-scale returns (from the region and abroad following the 2001 American intervention), or the decline of asylum opportunities and erosion of refugee rights.
August 2021 marked a new phase for Afghans seeking international protection. Ex-government workers, security and law enforcement agents, women, girls and their families had to migrate to seek protection. Yet, legal, financial and social barriers as well as tightening borders and continuous deportations from Iran and Pakistan jeopardised their search for protection. Most recently, both Iran and especially Pakistan have increased their efforts to deport undocumented Afghan nationals from their territory. Despite the official line being that only undocumented Afghans will be returned, many documented Afghans with Proof of Registration Card (PoR) or Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders have also been forcibly returned.
The Afghan displacement crisis has continued given the deteriorating economic conditions, protection risks, loss of social support system, and the loss of rights for women in Afghanistan: whether mobility, employment or educational rights that have been banned for women. Within already acute displacement patterns, Afghan women whose only option may be to migrate through irregular pathways, are exposed to risks of sexual assault, kidnapping and torture. Regular migration routes, as well as returns and deportations, also come with their own gendered protection risks.
This briefing paper sheds light on the issues faced by Afghan women in displacement in neighbouring countries, and offers a series of recommendations to host states, donors and the humanitarian community.
The full briefing note can be found here.