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The Iranian Afghans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Fariba Adelkhah  and
Zuzanna Olszewska
Fariba Adelkhah
Affiliation:
Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales (CERI), Sciences-Po, Paris
Zuzanna Olszewska
Affiliation:
Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Oxford University
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Abstract

Emigration from Afghanistan is the product of socio-political circumstances—drought, regime changes, wars—and economic structures—pastoralism and agricultural seasonal cycles—but it is also situated in a historical continuum of recurrent population movements on a regional scale. As a phenomenon, it has been well-researched in Pakistan, but has been less well understood from the Iranian side. However, many Afghans, notably but not exclusively Hazaras, have settled there since the end of the nineteenth century. Immigration from Afghanistan intensified from the 1970s onwards following the Iranian oil boom and drought in Afghanistan and the political turbulence in that country after 1978. The policies of the Islamic Republic towards this population have been both variable and inconsistent. Recently, their main priority has been the repatriation of Afghans in an atmosphere of both official and popular xenophobia. The experience of exile has resulted in important social changes, in particular with respect to education and the position of women. Moreover, the Afghan presence on Iranian soil appears to be irreversible: it satisfies economic needs, reflects the intensity of commercial exchanges between the two countries, and in itself constitutes a complex trans-border reality. Finally, it sustains a public and juridical debate on the definition of citizenship and appears to be inherent in the idea of the Iranian nation itself.

Type
Research Article
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , April 2007 , pp. 137 - 165
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Iranian Studies 2007

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Footnotes

1

The first part of this paper was written by Olszewska based on nine months of fieldwork conducted among Afghans in Iran between 2004 and 2006. The subsequent two sections, the introduction and the conclusion, were written by Adelkhah based on two months of research in Iran from August-September 2005 and ongoing research on border markets since 2000. This is an abridged version of a working paper originally published by CERI in French under the title Les Afghans Iraniens, Les Etudes du CERI, 125 (Paris, April 2006).

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60 Some of these are well known for being the birthplaces of famous personalities like the footballer Khodadad Azizi, the current Member of Parliament of Fariman, Hosseini, or the reformist parliamentarian Zafarzadeh, born in Chartekab, Garmeh, and Narg, respectively.

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69 Monsutti cited in Abbasi-Shavazi et al., Return to Afghanistan?, 10.

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73 We would like to thank Maryam-Sadat Golduzian for entrusting us with her Masters thesis, still in manuscript form, for use in this study: Barresi-ye haq-e tabe'iyat beh onvan-e yek haq-e bashari va 'emal-e an dar hoquq-e dakheli-ye Iran [A Study of the Right to Nationality as a Human Right and its Application in the Domestic Law of Iran], Tehran, Allameh Tabatabai University, Department of Law, 1384/2005.

74 “Sefarat-e iran dar afghanestan: Souper-e dallali be ja-ye fa‘aliat-e diplomatik [The Iranian Embassy in Afghanistan: Business or Diplomacy?]”, http://www.baztab.com, 24 and 28 dey 1384/2006.

75 On the difficult situation of Iranian women in Afghanistan, see Farnaz Ghazizadeh, “Afghaniha beravand, zanan-e iranieshan ra ham bebarand! [Afghans Should Leave Iran and Take Their Iranian Wives with Them!],” in http://roozonline.com/01newsstory/008358.shtml; on the legal problems posed by those without documents, see Ali Ghadimis, “Teflak shoghalha [Poor Jackals],” in http://www.ali-gh.com/archives/000175.php; Elaheh Boghrat, “Inja adam khar darad [Cannibals are amongst Us],” in www.alefbe.com/articleAdamkhar.htm.

76 The new arrangement of BAFIA's offices in Mashhad, in the same district as the police headquarters, involves an open layout which will no doubt make it more difficult to bribe officials.

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84 Alfred Hermida, “Web Gives a Voice to Iranian Women,” http://www.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2044802.stm; Netlex Blogs, “Weblogs iraniens: le sexe cache l'essentiel,” http://www.nellexfrance.com/weblogs/?p=1003; Michael Theodoulou, “Proliferating Iranian Weblogs Give Voice to Taboo Topics,” in http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0623/p07s02-wome.html.

85 On Ayatollah Qazvini's school, City of Knowledge, in Pomona, see Adelkhah, Fariba, Les Iraniens de Californie: si la République islamique n'existait pas, Les Etudes du CERI 75 (Paris, 2001): 19Google Scholar; on the visit to Australia of Hojjat ol-Eslam Seyyed Hassan Navab, president of the Center of Religious Research and Studies, see Jomhuri-ye Eslami (22 shahrivar 1984/2005).

86 F. Adelkhah, “Qui a peur du mollah Omar ? L'économie morale du talebanisme dans le Golfe,” Critique Internationale (12 July 2001): 22–29.

87 Sharq, (9 khordad 1384/2005).

88 Kashani-Sabet, Frontier Fictions, 83.

89 Kashani-Sabet, Frontier Fictions, 53.

90 Kashani-Sabet, Frontier Fictions, 75.

91 Kashani-Sabet, Frontier Fictions, 159.

92 Roy, L'Afghanistan, 283.

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94 Sharq, (28 tir 1384/2005); Keyhan News (9 mehr 1384/2005).