Ariana of Afghanistan

My name is Ariana.  I was born and raised in Kabul City, Afghanistan, earning my primary and secondary education there. I enjoyed my childhood enormously in my beautiful country and had a normal life like Canadian children have now.  But, after the Russian invasion, everything changed for us!

In the late 1980s, Russia invaded Afghanistan, trying to force my family, and millions more, out of our home country. Initially, people resisted; some of my family members were even killed or jailed. We were watched all the time, under constant surveillance. My family and I were spied on and followed by secret agents everyday. I had no connection to this new ruling communist regime; I was like a stranger in my own country. I felt isolated and afraid, especially because females were very vulnerable at this time. We wanted to stay, but civilians were being targeted and it was too dangerous. Ultimately, we had to make the difficult choice to leave our home.  So we left Afghanistan in search of a better and safer place.

We took refuge in Pakistan and stayed there in the hope of returning back home, but that never happened.  The situation in Afghanistan worsened.  Pakistan does not accept resettlement of Afghan refugees, so we had to resettle elsewhere. We applied to come to Canada as government sponsored refugees. We were accepted and settled in Manitoba.   

I now work at the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council as a Refugee Sponsorship Counsellor. My vision is to help people, particularly refugees and people who live in conflict zones because I know exactly what they are going through. I help people sponsor refugee relatives and friends. I am lucky to have arrived in Canada as a refugee and will continue to try and help others do the same.  As a Canadian, I am extremely aware of the freedom in this country.  In Afghanistan, I lost my freedom! But now, I feel connected and close to Canadians, as we have come from different backgrounds and cultures to build a multicultural society.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan's refugee situation dates back more than 20 years. One of the world’s most impoverished countries, Afghanistan is slowly recovering from decades of war and oppression.  The number of individuals displaced from Afghanistan peaked in 1992, with 6.2 million refugees.  After a subsequent decrease, the number of refugees again rose in response to a period of conflict and drought, peaking with 3.7 million refugees in 2002.
Since major repatriation operations to Afghanistan resumed in 2002, more than 4.8 million Afghans have returned to their country, mostly from Pakistan and Iran.  However, approximately 3.5 million Afghans still remain in the two neighbouring countries alone.

The voluntary repatriation operation has been UNHCR’s largest such operation for 5 consecutive years and is regarded as a major achievement of UNHCR in partnership with the Governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.

While there are still many challenges ahead, the work of the international community has brought some needed development to the area, and the presence of NATO troops has provided stability and security for further development.  Notably, September 2005 marked the first parliamentary and provincial elections in Afghanistan in more than 30 years.  Also, more than five million children have returned to school since the fall of the Taliban regime.