Sectarianism brought into play: Reasons why Afghan migrants in Iran become involved in Syria's war
Rampant unrest and wars in some Middle Eastern countries have forced large numbers of people to seek refuge in neighboring states. Afghanistan has been home to the largest number of migrants because of this unrest.
Most
of those who left Afghanistan headed to Iran. Nonetheless, it must be noted
that Iran has been a preferred destination for Shiite Afghans.
The
arrival of these Shiite migrants in Iran was timely in the light of keenness by
Iranian authorities not to involve Iranian nationals in battles outside
national borders, especially after the war with Iraq (1980 – 1988).
A
large number of Afghans fought Iraq side by side with the Iranian army. Around
2,000 Afghan fighters were killed in the war (1). Iran now uses Afghan migrants
again, but this time in the war in Syria.
Shiite
Afghan migrants in Iran
Afghan
migrants
Apart
from economic problems, rampant unrest in Afghanistan has caused a large number
of Afghan nationals to leave their country to Iran. Around 5.5 million Afghans
have so far left their country, according to Afghan government figures (2). Around
2.2 million of these migrants have ended up in Iran.
The
Iranian government (3) says, meanwhile, that 1.6 million Afghans are present in
Iran. This makes up almost 95% of the total number of migrants on Iranian soil,
the Iranian government says.
According
to Kabul, 450,000 of these migrants have visas valid for a short period of time
only. About 887,306 of these migrants also do not have official residence
permits in Iran, Afghanistan says.
This
latter group of Afghan nationals is the main point of this study. These Afghan
nationals without residence permits in Iran are the strategic human reserve of
the Iranian authorities. Iran forces these Afghan nationals to fight in Syria –
and in other countries for that matter – or it will deport them to Afghanistan.
Most
of the Afghan nationals live in Iranian capital Tehran, around half a million.
Below is the distribution of Afghan migrants in Iran:
-
Tehran:
515,000
-
Razavi
Khorasan: 219,000
-
Kerman:
125,000
-
Isfahan:
183,000
Suffering
in Iran
Most
Afghan migrants arrived in Iran during the First Gulf War. Nonetheless, a major
chunk of these migrants fled to Iran as a result of the latest wars in their
country. Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, ordered
Iranian authorities to open Iranian borders to allow Afghan migrants fleeing
the war in their country to cross into Iran. Khomeini even ordered Basij, an
elitist unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to help those migrants
(4).
Some
of the migrants became part of Iran's economic life. They played a big role
during the First Gulf War, being skilled in a number of professions, at a time
the Iranians were busy fighting the Iraqis.
The
Afghans worked in agriculture and in the construction sector. This was cheap
labor. They participated in several developments projects in Iran after the war
came to an end in 1988.
Most
Afghan migrants settled first in Khorasan and the northeastern city of Mashhad.
Later on, the Afghans started arriving in Tehran, Shiraz and Qom.
The
First Gulf War slowed down the migration of the Afghans into Iran. However, the
migration into Iran started to pick up yet again with the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan and the eruption of several wars in the country. The migration of
the Afghans proved to be instrumental in rescuing the Iranian labor market (5),
according to Iranian sources.
Nonetheless,
Afghan migrants in Iran writhe under tough social conditions. They face a
number of challenges, including the lack of jobs. Unemployment is high among
the Afghan migrants. In this, they are like everybody else in Iran.
Iranian
authorities restricted, meanwhile, the work of the Afghans to some sectors of
the economy, including the construction sector, the agriculture sector and road
projects.
Afghan
migrants are never given official documentation in Iran to protect their
rights. Migrants, who get documents proving their refugee status, are never hired
by Iranian employers.
The
migrants cannot enroll their children in Iranian schools. They cannot open bank
accounts either.
Migrant
children who are born in Iran are never viewed as Iranian citizens. If they are
admitted into Iranian universities, the children of the migrants cannot apply
for jobs that suit their university degrees.
The
children of Iranian migrants cannot also receive free education like all
Iranian children do. Their parents have to pay for their education. Most of the
children of the migrants also have to attend school in the evenings.
According
to official Iranian reports, around 32,000 children are not documented. These
are the children of mixed Afghan-Iranian marriages. There are around 30,000
mixed marriages. Children from these marriages cannot be documented. They
cannot get the Iranian citizenship either. They cannot be part of the official subsidy
system in Iran (6).
In
2012, the Iranian government issued a decree that bars foreigners, including
the Afghan migrants, from studying physics; nuclear engineering; intelligence
sciences, and military sciences.
Iranian
authorities force the Afghan migrants to pay an amount of money every year in
return for staying in Iran. The Afghans also have to pay extra money for using
the Iranian legal system.
Iranian
citizens view Afghan migrants in a racist manner. An Afghan journalist
explained this issue by writing that hatred of the Afghans had turned into a
national sport in Iran.
"Most
Iranians view the Afghans as criminals who deserve to be given tough work. On
most occasions, it is common for Iranians to humiliate Afghans," the
Afghan journalist wrote.
The
same journalist accused Iranian authorities of using the Afghans during the war
with Iraq and then neglecting them after the war.
Iranian
authorities, he wrote, prevent Afghans from studying at Iranian schools.
He
described the conditions of Afghan migrants as the "worst", compared
to the conditions of Afghan migrants in other countries. He said Afghans are
barred from living in some Iranian cities, including Sistan; Baluchistan;
Zanjan, and Kermanshah.
According to an Iranian general, there are
around 2 million Shiite Afghans in Iran (7).
Consequences
of Afghans' suffering in Iran
The
suffering the Afghans sustained inside Iran made it easy for some of them to be
conscripted within Iranian military missions in other countries.
The
ongoing war in Syria is one of these missions. Some Afghans were easily swayed
by offers made by the Iranian authorities for them to fight in Syria. In
convincing the Afghans of being part of this war, Iranian authorities tell them
that they would go to Syria to defend sacred Shiite shrines in the country.
Foreign
fighters
Iran
has started recruiting foreigners in its military service, especially in
operations outside national borders, since the end of the war with Iraq. It had
to do this after sustaining a huge toll during this war. The real Iranian
financial and human toll in the war is still unknown, even as Iran released
some figures.
Shiites
were at the center of this recruitment process, regardless of where they come
from.
Fatemiyoun
Division
Iran
has jumped into the Syrian arena in order to defend its strategic interests. Iran
started its Syria intervention by sending national troops. Nonetheless, a huge
human toll made it necessary for Tehran to enlist the services of foreigners to
fight on its behalf.
In
doing this, Iran depended on Shiites who could easily be swayed by Iranian
offers or even threats. For Afghans living in Iran, going to Syria was a good
escape from the tough circumstances they experienced in Iran. This was why
entities, such as Fatemiyoun Division, came into being.
Afghan
migrants forced to fight in Syria
Iran
started sending Afghan fighters into Syria as of 2012. This drive picked up
after the Syrian army was defeated in several battles at the hands of the armed
opposition, most of which included in international terror lists.
There
was an urgent need for a large number of fighters to make up for the human
losses the Syrian army sustained in a number of areas. Iran also wanted to
speed up the arrival of these fighters in Syria in order to protect its
strategic interests in the Arab country.
In
2012, Iranian army generals decided to form a military force of Afghans to
fight in Syria. Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Mohammad Ali
Jafari announced the formation of a force of 50,000 fighters to fight side by
side with the Syrian army. Nevertheless, the Iranians did not say then that the
new force would be made of Afghans.
The
new force was made to be under the command of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Afghan migrants were given training at Iranian military camps and then sent
to Syria (8).
There
is uncertainty on the number of fighters within Fatemiyoun Division. Some
sources, however, estimate the number of fighters within it to be between 8,000
and 14,000 (9).
According
to some Shiite Afghans, the Iranian regime convinced the Afghans to be part of
the war in Syria through both coercion and promises. The Iranians, they said,
made the Afghans choose between travelling to Syria, going back to their
country, or even facing imprisonment in Iran. The Iranian regime, the Shiite
Afghans said, promised the Afghans a better life in Syria.
Those
agreed to join the battles in Syria receive salaries between $500 and $800.
The
Iranian regime tells those who join the fight in Syria that they are in the
Arab state to defend the shrine of Sayyeda Zeinab in Syrian capital Damascus.
Some
of the Afghans, now fighting in Syria, do not buy into this idea, but they were
forced to go to Syria to either get rid of their tough living conditions in
Iran or for fear of imprisonment or repatriation.
Revolutionary
Guard Corps offices have opened in a number of Iranian provinces to receive
Afghans who want to go to Syria. Some of the Afghans who did not agree to go to
Syria had to seek asylum in Europe, especially after hundreds of thousands of
Syrians sought refuge in European countries. Afghan migrants constitute the
second largest group of migrants in Europe after the Syrians, not only because
Iran forces them to fight in Syria, but also because of internal conditions in
Afghanistan itself.
Some
of the Afghans who fight in Syria say they are used as "human
shields" (10) for Iranian troops in the war. The Iranians treat the
Afghans badly in Syria as well. The Iranian army command does not offer Afghan
fighters enough food. The same fighters are also denied transport in most
cases, which is why they have to travel long distances on foot.
In
almost all cases, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps does not honor its
promise of giving the Afghans who fight in Syria residence permits in Iran.
This was why some of these Afghans had to escape the war.
Consequences
Sending
Afghan migrants in Iran to battlefields in a number of countries has come at
the center of debate recently. Some rights advocates call for filing a case at
international courts against the Iranian regime in this regard.
Afghan
authorities said they oppose the sending of Afghan nationals to the war in
Syria. Some members of the Afghan parliament even said they would lodge a
complaint at the United Nations against Iran.
Acting
spokesperson for the Afghan President, Shah Hussain Murtazawi, said his country
rejected all forms of proxy wars in other countries. His announcement came hard
on the heels of news that more than 2,000 Afghan fighters were killed and
around 8,000 others injured in the war in Syria (11).
It
is important to note that the way this case will be settled will depend in the
days to come on understandings between Kabul and Tehran. The same case will
also continue to be hostage to Iranian influence in Afghanistan.
References
2)
Afghan
Ministry for Migrants' Affairs (http://morr.gov.af/fa/page/14460)
3)
BBC Farsi –
Number of Afghans in Iran (http://www.bbc.com/persian/iran-features-40326695)
4)
Previous
reference
6)
Previous
reference
7)
Masoud
al-Zahed – Iran forms Shiite liberation army in Syria – al-Arabiya.net – August
24, 2016 (https://www.alarabiya.net/ar/iran/2016/08/24/%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B5%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%AA%D8%B4%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%A5%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%84%D9%80-%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%B4-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%8A%D8%B9%D9%8A-%D9%81%DB%8C-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%A7-.html)
8)
Munjib
Mashal and Fatima Faizi – Iran Sent Them to Syria. Now Afghan Fighters Are a
Worry at Home – New York Times – November 17, 2017 (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/11/world/asia/afghanistan-iran-syria-revolutionary-guards.html)
9)
Ali M.
Latifi – How Iran Recruited Afghan Refugees to Fight Assad's War – New York
Times – June 30, 2017 (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/30/opinion/sunday/iran-afghanistan-refugees-assad-syria.html)
11) Previous reference
