Afghan refugees seek third-country resettlement

Life has been hard on Saliha Azizullah. Arriving in Kazakhstan nine months earlier from her native Afghanistan, she had hoped for a better life in Central Asia's largest nation - only to have that dream turn into a nightmare. "All I wanted was a better future for my children," the 35-year-old told IRIN in her simple two-room, Soviet style flat, in the Kazakh commercial capital, Almaty. She recalled in vivid detail how her husband, a prison guard under former Afghan prime minister Bulbuddin Hekmatyar, had repeatedly been beaten and tortured due to his former employment, as was she on occasion, prompting them to move north to Kazakhstan. But unlike her, her husband never quite recovered from the ordeal; a torment that drove him to jump from their sixth floor flat; the same flat she now shares alone with her four young children. "I can't go back to Afghanistan. It's not safe there and I have no job or money," she exclaimed crying: "I want to leave. I want to go to another country." According to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), she is not alone. Of the 660 Afghan refugees currently living in Kazakhstan today, the vast majority regard third-country resettlement as their primary hope. "What they want is a better future in a Western country. They want third-country resettlement because they think their future here is very limited," former UNHCR protection officer, Roka Kudo, in Almaty, told IRIN.

Vastok Ahmadulla says jobs and housing are the primary concerns for Afghans in Kazakhstan

Testament to that is the low number of Afghans in Kazakhstan interested in returning to their homeland. Since the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2001, millions of Afghans have repatriated from Pakistan and Iran, the largest host countries to the Afghan diaspora, while returns from the former Soviet republic have been minimal. "The vast majority of Afghans in the country do not want to return," Kudo said, adding, however, their door was always open to assist those who wished to. In 2002, 15 people repatriated, followed by another 15 people in 2003, he explained. But while the desire to return is limited, so too is the desire to remain in Kazakhstan. Although those Afghans recognised by the Kazakh government enjoy legal status in the country, the lack of a national law dedicated to refugees presents problems. Current legislation lacks any provision for their rights or any specific obligations on the part of the state, nor does it provide for refugee determination status procedures through which they should be recognised. "Many of them have legal status as refugees which provides them with certain legal protection, but still there are problems," Eugeniy Zhovtis, director of Kazakhstan's International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, told IRIN. "Most of them are living with a temporary residency permit which is extended," the activist said, noting, however, their status was unclear and questions remained as to how the government would deal with them. Most Afghans in Kazakhstan, unlike Saliha, have lived in the country for years, primarily in Almaty or in the southern city of Chimkent. Many in fact, were students during the time of the Soviet Union, speak Russian and have lost touch with their former homeland long ago. Vastok Ahmadulla is one such example. Originally from Kabul and arriving in 1991, he studied at the University of Dushanbe before finally settling in Almaty. Since gaining Kazakh citizenship in 1998, the 42-year-old ethnic Tajik has spearheaded efforts to assist Afghan refugees in his adopted country as president of the Afghan Diaspora Fund. "Jobs and housing are the primary problems faced by Afghans in the country," Ahmadulla offered, an issue reiterated again and again by Afghans on the street. In fact, employment opportunities for the group remain non-existent, with most Afghans, including former doctors and teachers, having no choice but to work in local bazaars to sustain themselves. "I came here because of the war...I don't work now," Mohammad Hashim, a former mechanic from Kabul, told IRIN, whose son works in a local market earning just enough to pay the US $300 monthly rent. "Kazakhstan has been my home for 13 years....It's hard for me to get a job because I don't have a residency permit and my age," the 50-year-old father-of-six explained from the door of his flat in the city's western district of Aksai, the primary home to Almaty's Afghan community.

Farzana Sidiki hopes to one day be resettled with her two children in Canada

But with housing costs at a premium, and employment opportunities nearly non-existent, his options are limited. Forced into living in a crowded two-roomed flat, but concerned about possible eviction, he has taken to hiding four of his children in the bathroom when the landlord drops by. Like most Afghans in Kazakhstan, he dreams of a secure life in another country - but not Afghanistan. "The life I have to lead is inhumane. How long can I bare to hide my children in the bathroom? I want to live my life with dignity just like you," he asserted. Such sentiment was echoed by 29-year-old Farzana Sidiki. Recently divorced, the mother-of-two relies on the goodwill of relatives and members of the Afghan community to sustain herself and her family. "I have problems feeding my children, education and paying the rent," she said, conceding her ultimate dream was resettlement in Canada.