Afghans driven out of Iran return to uncertain future

Susannah Walden and Qubad Wali Hajjar Shademani's family waited for hours in the heat and dust after crossing the border into Afghanistan, their neat pile of suitcases all that remained of a lifetime in Iran after being deported to their homeland.

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The 19-year-old and her three siblings are among tens of thousands of Afghans who have crossed the Islam Qala border point in recent days, the majority forced to leave, according to the United Nations and Taliban authorities.

Despite being born in Iran after her parents fled war 40 years ago, Shademani said the country “never accepted us”. When police came to her family's home in Shiraz city and ordered them to leave, they had no choice.

But Afghanistan is also alien to her. “We don't have anything here,” she told AFP in English.

Between Iranian universities that would not accept her and the Taliban government, which has banned education for women, Shademani's studies are indefinitely on hold. “I really love studying... I wanted to continue but in Afghanistan, I think I cannot.”