In a secluded village deep within Sistan and Baluchestan Province, south-east Iran, a mother carries the weight of her family’s survival on her shoulders.
Farzaneh*, 48, has been raising her three daughters alone since the death of her husband, Rahimullah, ten years ago. Though she herself is Iranian, her daughters Leila, Yasmin and Nargis, aged 16, 16 and 19 respectively, face a legal dilemma, because their father was an Afghan refugee. With an Iranian mother and an Afghan father, they are only eligible for Amayesh cards, temporary residency permits that must be renewed each year.
Each renewal carries a heavy cost for a vulnerable family. Every year, Farzaneh undertakes a gruelling 600-kilometre trip from their village to the province’s central district, Zahedan, to renew her daughters’ Amayesh cards. The journey is costly and exhausting. Missing a deadline could mean deportation to Afghanistan, a country her daughters have never known.
In 2019, a landmark law offered them a ray of hope: children born to Iranian mothers, regardless of their father’s nationality, could finally access Iranian citizenship. But for Farzaneh and her daughters, the promise remains unfulfilled. Their application for Shenasnameh (birth certificates) has been stalled for five years due to restrictions and administrative delays.
Without a male breadwinner, Farzaneh works tirelessly to provide for her family. She cleans houses in her neighbourhood and sews traditional Balochi dresses, but her income is barely enough to put food on the table. The financial strain has forced her daughters to drop out of school, cutting short their hopes of education and the chance for a better future.
Now, support has arrived through the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC’s) Information, Counselling and Legal Assistance (ICLA) programme. With generous funding from European Union Humanitarian Aid, the programme helps vulnerable families like Farzaneh’s understand their rights. It also provides essential cash assistance to cover Amayesh card renewal fees – often the thin line between legal protection and vulnerability.
For Farzaneh, the struggle continues, but she doesn’t have to go through it alone anymore. Her greatest wish is simple: that her daughters, born and raised in Iran, can finally call it their home in both name and law.
NRC in Iran
Since 2012, NRC has been assisting displaced Afghans as well as host communities in Iran. It works to protect and improve access to basic humanitarian services across ten provinces: Alborz, Tehran, Yazd, Hormozgan, Semnan, Kerman, Qom, Razavi Khorasan, Markazi, and Sistan and Baluchestan.
Since mid-2021, NRC has significantly scaled up its work in Iran to respond to the recent developments in Afghanistan, while maintaining all existing programmes.
*Names have been changed to respect the individuals’ wish for anonymity.
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