Emigrant Afghan Women and Home-Returning Challenges (Case Study: Afghan Emigrant Women Residing in the City of Mashhad)

 
From long ago and during various historical periods, Afghans have migrated to Iran. The largest Afghan emigration took place after a communist government, Afghanistan democratic republic, was established in 1978 and also as a result of the rise in the extensive internal conflicts. These were the overtures to the formation of first waves of emigration to the neighboring countries such as Iran and Pakistan. This emigration flood has always been confronted with abundant rise and fall during the past thirty and several years. The Taliban government establishment and the US and its allies attack to Afghanistan were the factors contributing to the intensification of emigrations. After the establishment of an Islamic republic government in Afghanistan in 2004, this hope was strengthened that the emigrants will return to their country but the return advanced very slowly in spite of the international organizations contributions and interventions. Although the main reason behind the Afghans’ emigration has never been a gender-based attitude but the gender considerations such as the lack of security for women, Afghan’s protection of their honor and so forth overshadowed the repatriation process and played essential roles as inhibitory factors. It has been tried to investigate the reasons behind afghan women’s lack of willingness to return to their country in the present study. The present study made use of the theory of attractants and repellents and the authors carried out structured interviews with 16 emigrant women in the city of Mashhad and the study main questions were evaluated within two various time periods. The study results indicate that Iran’s attractions are more for the girls and women who have been born in Iran than for the women who have spent much of their life in Afghanistan. The change in sustenance structure as well as the geographical environment of the Afghans who have migrated to Iran, and most of them are Hazareh, has caused the traditional system of patriarchy to be stripped of its efficiency and become greatly impressed by the Iranian society. Based on the results obtained in the present study, it was made clear that the reasons behind the women’s lack of return to their country can be divided into two general categories: A) Intra-cultural issues which are reflective of the problems and barriers existing in Afghanistan’s social and traditional structure and practically act as repelling factor hindering the women’s return to their country, though the changes occurred after the formation of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has lighted a sparkle of hope in their hearts. B) Extra-cultural issues which stem from Iranian society’s attractants and repellents to them, especially Afghan women’s enjoyment of higher levels of freedom and security in Iran despite the problems and barriers that might exist regarding social and educational issues as factors effective on their lack of return to their country.