In wish list of Afghan refugees in Delhi — schools, better jobs & flights to visit kin back home

On a wide lane in Delhi’s Amar Colony, just off the bustling Lajpat Nagar market, the faint scent of roasted almonds drifts out from Afghan Dry Fruits — a cramped shop with a faded yellow signboard written in Dari and English. Inside, the shelves are lined with boxes of raisins, walnuts, and pistachios; in a glass cupboard, golden slabs of sugar-coated kunafa and sticky baklawa glisten.

Until 2021, the store in Amar Colony — once known as ‘Mini Kabul’ — drew a steady stream of visitors from Afghanistan, including medical tourists, traders, and refugee families seeking respite from the turbulence back home. But now, there are almost no customers.

The shopowner, who refused to disclose his name, sits idly behind the counter, scrolling through his phone.

He had come to India from Kabul 15 years ago, when he was just 22. His father still runs a dry fruit shop back in Afghanistan but he had left in search of stability. “Now, everything has come to a standstill. Direct flight operations have stopped and we are not receiving stock. The number of customers has also dwindled,” he says.

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The air corridor between India and Afghanistan was closed in August 2021, when the Taliban took over the reigns of the neighbouring country.

As has been the case with many Afghan refugees, the impact of the Taliban rule has been both financial and personal for the 37-year-old man.

“I have family in Afghanistan, but since the Taliban took over Kabul, travel has become almost impossible. The only thing I want from this visit is for flight operations to start again so I can meet my father,” he says.

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He was referring to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi ongoing visit to India — the first visit by a Taliban foreign minister. Muttaqi has said that Kabul would send diplomats to India as part of step-by-step efforts to improve bilateral relations. India had closed its embassy in Kabul after the Taliban seized power.

Asked about the possibility of Muttaqi’s visit paving the way for Afghan refugees to return home, the shopowner speaks about his two young children — boys, aged five and eight, both born in Delhi. “They are studying well. They don’t even know they are refugees… India is all they have ever known. For them, this is home. For me, it has become one,” he says.

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A few kilometers away, in Jangpura’s Bhogal, another area that has high Afghan refugee settlements, the air smells of dust, old rugs, and faintly of chai. Here, 60-year-old Farhad sits among stacks of worn carpets and second-hand appliances in a dimly-lit shop. His TV plays music by Susan Feroz, Afghanistan’s first female rapper.

Farhad says he is a Tajik from Kabul, a community often sidelined under the Taliban’s Pashtun-led rule. It was over a decade ago that he had fled Afghanistan, after his car showroom and home were seized. “I came here with my wife and nine children… I will never return to Afghanistan. There is nothing for me there,” he adds despite his shop barely covering his living expenses.

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Though he still feels out of place in India, his children have adapted to India and are working in Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Delhi. His eldest daughter, meanwhile, is settled in the US.

Farhad hopes that Muttaqi will bring up the issue of schools here refusing to admit his younger children, citing lack of documentation.

Obtaining visas to travel abroad is also impossible, he adds. “I hope that the Taliban minister will use his visit to have a dialogue with the Indian government to resolve these issues and allow Afghan refugees to secure education, travel, and work opportunities… I would like to travel to Dubai and Iran to look for better business opportunities there,” he says.

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A short distance from Farhad’s shop stands a soot-streaked bakery that sells Afghan-style breads. Here, 25-year-old Rohillah sits in front of a roaring tandoor.

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He had come to India on a scholarship to study at a university outside Delhi, whose name he refused to disclose. With the turmoil back home, he hoped that India would provide him employment opportunities, but now, he works in a bread bakery, which barely earns him enough to cover rent and daily expenses.

“I have studied English and have a degree, but no one will hire me. There is already so much unemployment and I cannot get organised work here… I have no permits. So, I work at this bakery. It is not what I imagined for myself.”

“I wanted to leave Afghanistan looking for better opportunities, but employment here is scarce for people like me, despite being skilled and educated,” he adds.

If only in dialogue, for Rohillah, Muttaqi’s visit brings a ray of hope.

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