Food security
Return to Afghanistan?: a study of Afghans living in Mashhad, Islamic Republic of Iran
The livelihoods of Afghan migrants living in Mashhad, Iran
Authors:
J. Mohammad; D. Glazebrook; G. Jamshidiha
Publisher:
Reliefweb, 2005
What happens to refugees who spend long periods living in host countries? Why, despite policies aimed to encourage repatriation do some choose not to return? Why do transitory migrants continue to return despite unemployment and poor labour conditions?
This study explores the lives of Afghan refugees living in Mashad, Iran. It forms part of a series of case studies undertaken by the AREU as part of its Transnational networks project. The project aims to provide context specific research on migration in the region. It is especially concerned with forging new approaches to repatriation as well as long term migration that take into account the diversity of migrant experience. The authors use a livelihoods approach to understand push and pull factors in migration and people’s decision making on whether or not to repatriate. The study focuses on two groups of Afghans in Mashad; households that have been based in Iran longer than eight years and transitory labour migrants. For those households who have lived in Iran longest many are unemployed and rely upon regional social networks for survival. Despite extended transitional networks with relatives in for example, Europe and Canada, the refugees receive little financial assistance from these sources.
Afghan women living in Iran sometimes marry Afghan men living abroad, possibly because this increases the support of the bride’s family in Iran. According to the research, reasons for remaining in Iran have a strong gender dimension. Iran is thought to be less patriarchal than Afghanistan, and life for women in Iran offers a better standard of living. Women are also afraid of perceived risks of sexual violence against themselves and their daughters should they return to Afghanistan. Fear of prejudice against Shias means that a large percentage of Afghans who have chosen to remain in Iran are of the Hazara ethnic group. Amongst transitory labour migrants most intend to return in the short term and a large proportion of their wages are sent to family back home in order to invest in land and housing. This study demonstrates that access across horizontal networks determines whether migration to Iran is feasible, since risk can be spread amongst family members.
Compared with other areas in Iran that are part of the AREU study, unemployment is comparatively lower and Mashad labour migrants tend to remit substantially more. However, the daily costs of living are the same and wages are considerably lower than in Tehran. The economic situation in Afghanistan remains a key push factor in the likelihood of migrants returning to Iran again.
Responses to the role of migration to Mashad are ambiguous. Despite the continuing necessity of migration, unemployment and low wages means that many reported livelihoods to have deteriorated or remained static. The social costs of migration are keenly felt.
