BackAfghan diaspora is losing hope of returning home after Taliban takeover
With the Islamist hard-liners in power, refugees and exiles worry about how to get their families out, too
PremiumNEW DELHI : There are 2.6 million registered Afghan refugees world-wide, second only to those from Syria. Many others are undocumented or have traveled abroad to study. From the U.S. and Europe to Pakistan and Iran, they have tried to build new lives after escaping from decades of war.
But for those who once thought of returning home, including some in a small diaspora community here in the Indian capital, the return of the Taliban is closing the door on their plans and has left them looking for ways to help family members get out, too.
Maliha Rashidi, 34 years old, has been living in a cramped apartment in the crowded Bhogal neighborhood for more than five years after leaving her home in the Afghan city of Jalalabad. She lives here with her six sons and two daughters, making a living by acting as an interpreter for Afghans who would come to India seeking healthcare.
“Back home, I used to watch a lot of Bollywood movies. That helped me learn Hindi," she says. Before the Covid-19 pandemic curtailed medical tourism, she foresaw a better future for herself and her children, who now go to school. She says it’s a world away from Afghanistan, where in 2014 Taliban insurgents killed her husband and his two brothers because they worked for the government.
“At midnight, four men entered our house and beheaded my husband. They held my son at gunpoint, then poured scalded water on my feet and raped me several times," Ms. Rashidi said, pointing to her scarred feet.
Fleeing Jalalabad meant selling off their family home and other possessions to raise the cash to make a new beginning in India. But now that the Taliban have seized power and U.S. forces are withdrawing, she fears for her parents’ safety and is scrambling to find a way to bring them to India, perhaps by obtaining a medical visa if commercial flights resume in the coming weeks.
“They tell me the only sounds they hear are those of explosions and gunshots. Our homes have become jails. They can’t even get water or electricity," Ms. Rashidi said. “People are treated worse than animals. I pray to Allah to keep them safe."
Some 15,000 Afghan refugees live in New Delhi—a small slice of an increasingly far-flung diaspora—and authorities have introduced a new e-visa that could allow more Afghan nationals to come. Most Afghan refugees live in Pakistan and Iran, with other populations setting down roots in the U.S. and other Western countries. In the Bhogal neighborhood, a focal point for India’s Sikh community, Afghans mostly stay in small second- and third-story apartments. Many find work preparing kebabs with naan bread, or Afghan momos, a kind of dumpling.
Others, like Ms. Rashidi, help wealthier Afghans find medical treatment in Indian hospitals as part of the country’s burgeoning medical tourism industry.
Many now see any prospect of returning home fading with the Taliban’s comeback.
Farishta Mehboobi, 40, worries about her sister in Kabul. She says she hasn’t spoken with her in two months. “I’m calling others in the city to find out if she’s still alive," Ms. Mehboobi said. “I’m trying every possible way to hear her voice just once."
Like Ms. Rashidi, Ms. Mehboobi left Afghanistan after the Taliban kidnapped and murdered her husband, who worked as a driver for an American diplomat. Her eldest daughter is now married to another Afghan refugee and also lives in Bhogal. Her other three children live with her, and her prospects of one day returning are dwindling.
“I haven’t seen peace in the last 33 years, and it’s getting worse every day. Everyone is trying to run from there and move to India, Iran or America," she said. “I’m extremely worried for my sister. No woman is safe in Afghanistan now. I don’t know if she’s still alive."
Ghulam Raza says he ended up in India during the latest upheaval by accident. The 40-year-old and his wife left Kabul three weeks ago to seek treatment for his heart ailment and a knee replacement for her. But now their main worry is what is happening to their family back home.
“We are worried for our parents, for our children, who are still in Kabul," Mr. Raza said. “We are trying to return as soon as we can. We never thought the situation would become so bad."
Others also want to return to help their families through the crisis.
Wali Khan, 28, came to Delhi five years ago to study business management. He works part time as a technician repairing cellphones and computers to help pay for tuition fees and cover his living expenses. His plan had been to finish his studies and then start his business before bringing his family to Delhi, including his two younger sisters.
But the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul has left him anxiously checking for updates about his family back home in Kandahar. He wants to return, but his family warned him off.
“My family is asking me not to come home. They are all still there, unsafe," he said. “Their future looks lost forever. I don’t know how to go back in this situation."
India is an important hub for Afghan students. Many are worried about what happens when their education visas expire.
“Nobody wants to go back from India. They just want their visas extended," said Sanjay Nahar, founder of Sarhad, a nonprofit organization in the western city of Pune that has opened a helpline for Afghan nationals in India. He says more than 2,500 Afghan nationals are in the Pune district.
Some students worry that if political relations between the Taliban and the Indian government aren’t good, it might affect their chances of continuing to stay in India.
“India is our second home," said Khalid Laraway, a 24-year-old native of Nangarhar province in Afghanistan. “We do hope that the Indians follow the same relationship" with Afghanistan as before, he said.
He now worries that the Taliban might want to revoke their passports because they were issued by the previous U.S.-backed government, while others worry their families won’t be able to finance their studies in India as the turmoil makes its effect felt on the Afghan economy.
“We can’t predict a single minute in Afghanistan," Mr. Laraway said.
Another widespread concern: Will the Taliban target them because they have studied abroad?
“Most of us are scared," said Ahmad Safi, a 22-year-old student at Pune University. “Will they accept us?"
Back in the Bhogal neighborhood of New Delhi, Ms. Rashidi shares those concerns. “If we go back, they might kill us," she said. Her ultimate goal is to one day settle in the U.S., where she thinks she will have better job opportunities than in India or Afghanistan. She says her dream is to become a makeup artist and open her own salon.
But for now, India is a safer alternative to Afghanistan.
“I feel relieved that I can move freely, talk freely and dream freely—something I could have been killed for under Taliban rule," Ms. Rashidi said.
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