Cyrus takes a break from the desert heat. He faces discrimination from government officials and ordinary Iranians because of his origins (Khosla/TYG).

 Cyrus’ mother is a Tajik, and his father is originally from northern Afghanistan. They met in Iran as refugees and settled down in Yazd, where Cyrus was born. Although it is the country of his birth, Cyrus is not a citizen of Iran. The 19-year-old has been working at the hotel for several months now, but illegally: officially designated an Afghani refugee, he is only allowed to work as a manual laborer, far from mainstream Iranian society. “I cannot go to university, I cannot buy a house, and I cannot drive a car,” he explained, “because I am Afghani.”

Cyrus is not the only one in limbo. Iran hosts one of the world’s largest refugee populations yet receives scarcely any international attention or assistance, perhaps because of its tenuous relationship with several major Western countries. There are around two million legally registered refugees in Iran, of whom approximately half are from Afghanistan. An estimated one million more Afghans live in the country illegally.

They began arriving in droves after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The influx of refugees slowed during the more stable period of Taliban rule, but the tide swelled again after the American- led invasion in 2002. Only a few refugees are housed in camps, where they are provided the bare essentials of shelter and food. Most, like Cyrus, are left largely to their own devices in Iran’s major cities, con- stantly searching for a place to rest.

A Less-Than-Warm Welcome

The goal of the Iranian state has long been to repatriate as many Afghans as possible back across the border, but Afghanistan’s con- tinuing instability has made this a difficult proposition. The Iranian government has had to step up its efforts to support the now stranded Afghans, registering those who can demonstrate that remaining in their home country would put their safety in peril. Once registered, these refugees are given basic legal protection, access to municipal services, and the right to hold low-skill jobs in construction, small industries, or personal services.

While Cyrus criticizes the government restrictions placed on his people, the Iranian state has supported him more than many coun- tries would. Cyrus completed both primary and secondary education in state-sponsored schools. According to the UN Convention Relat- ing to the Status of Refugees, secondary education is not considered a fundamental right for refugees; in this respect, the government of Iran has gone beyond its obligations.

Any measure on the part of the Iranian government to care for the Afghans is complicated by the diversity within the refugee population. While the government scrambles to process the recent influx of refugees, many Afghans who arrived years ago with legitimate cause to seek asylum never bothered to register at all. Now, decades later, it is nearly impossible for them to fully register, and they remain in the country illegally. On the other side are children and grandchildren of registered refugees—generations of Afghans for whom Iran has been their only home, although they may travel across the border for business deals or family weddings in Afghanistan. When considering refugee policy, the Iranian government does not know which Afghans are seeking refuge from immediate threat and which are simply looking for a better life in a more developed country. This second group might not need government aid upon arrival, but the government is wary of them because of the economic burden their presence can entail. After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, laws against birth control led to a doubling of the Iranian population from 35 million to the current 70 million in only a few decades. As that post-revolutionary generation now enters the job market, employment opportunities are virtually nil. Heavy international economic sanctions and a lack of foreign investment and trade stifle job creation in Iran. Afghanistan’s economy may be in shambles, but the Iranian economy is hardly strong enough to make up the difference in employment for the refugees. Incalculable Afghans like Cyrus have been forced to take up illegal employment. Cyrus was lucky to find a sympathetic hotelier who overlooked the restrictions on refugee employment in the hospitality industry, helping the 19-year old avoid the hard day laborer’s life that his father had known.