A family from Afghanistan fought for women’s rights and helped orphaned children to get a profession. Because of the constant threats and danger to life, they had to leave their homeland and start from scratch.
Fahima and Nasrin
© UNHCR/ Katerina Gordeeva
Fahima and Nasrin arrived in Belarus in the Autumn of 2019. At the time of the interview it was July scorching. The sisters make tea with green cardamom beans in the kitchen of the temporary accommodation center for the applicants for refugee status or complementary protection in Viciebsk. This drink reminds them of their homeland and refreshes them on a hot day.
The sisters left Afghanistan a few months ago. Their homeland has been troubled for thirty years now, and it is particularly difficult for women who are subject to persistent discrimination.
Nasrin, 34, lived in Kabul and worked as a teacher at school.
“The district where I worked was an area of Pashtun concentration. Every time I went to school, strangers with threats approached me in the street,” she remembers.
Her elder sister Fahima with her husband Nematullah and six children lived in Logar province, 40 kilometers from Kabul. Fahima worked for an organization that protected women’s rights.
“Women are not encouraged to be engaged in social work there,” there is sadness and fatigue in Fahima’s voice and pain in her eyes. “I have received threats many times. One day I let a woman into the organization without knowing that her husband was connected to the Taliban… Fearing for the life of my family, we were forced to leave our homeland”.
Fahima was lucky to marry at age 24 by mutual consent, and her husband didn’t object that his wife worked. Nematulla worked at a service station and took part in the project of the Belgian organization — taught Afghan orphans to do repairs and helped them to become car mechanics. The Taliban told these children to better join jihad. Nematullah also began to receive threats regularly.
All their kids went to school, but it wasn’t safe. The eldest son was invited to jihad, and parents were told that their daughters shouldn’t be at school and should better stay home. Fahima was worried that the girls could be kidnapped: in Afghanistan, which is considered one of the most dangerous countries for women, they can still be married by force. Where their family lived, only the city center belonged to the authorities, and no one guaranteed security.
Their family wanted to go to Europe, but they were detained at the border. They didn’t know anything about Belarus before, but having lived here for a while, they decided to stay and take root.
“The difference between our countries is huge. In Belarus, women are independent, have the right to education, they can work and support themselves, decide what to do,” Fahima says. “If we had this, I would never leave Afghanistan”.
“People are good here,” Nasrin smiles, “and I can work. It’s important for me to contribute”.
Fahima’s family and her younger sister settled in a temporary accommodation center. Thanks to the Belarusian Red Cross, they receive food and allowance. They buy medicines themselves, but their cost is partially reimbursed. Nematulla’s got a job in the bakery, but he has heart problems and diabetes, so he is at the hospital and isn’t working yet.
The eldest son, 21-year-old Hamayun, was helped to get to work. There are four food outlets in Viciebsk, and their owner employs people regardless of their nationality.
Fahima says that at first her children didn’t leave the temporary accommodation center. They were worried: are they going to grow up and never finish school?
“Then the UNHCR Representative in Belarus came to visit us, and when he found out that children didn’t attend school, he quickly solved this problem — and I am so grateful for that,” she said.
Children adapted to new conditions faster than adults. Of course, they miss friends in Afghanistan, but have already made new ones in Belarus. They learn the language and are happy that they can now attend school safely.18-year-old Mariam wants to become a doctor, 15-year-old Yalda — a manager, 14-year-old Fayaz — an engineer, 13-year-old Deba — a lawyer, 10-year-old Said — a businessman.
Fahima’s family has filed a petition for protection in Belarus, she wants their “fate to be decided”. They like Belarus, its people who are kind and friendly.
“My only dream is for children to get education. Our late grandmother wanted it very much,” says Fahima. “My husband has a heart disease, and I will not live forever either, so we really want our kids to be educated and find their place in society”.
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