Confined Horizons

After her studies, she wants to work in the field of human rights, preferably with a UN agency or an NGO. "I want to encourage and empower women who are in the same situation," says Zafira. "We should never give up."  She repeats that last sentence twice. She has not given up. Since October 2024, she has been studying at the University of Regensburg. The road there was long and dangerous. 

It's okay to tell her story, she says, if it can encourage other women. The courage to fight for herself, for her education, for a life in freedom. Zafira speaks in a soft, gentle voice, sometimes barely audible. But then the sentences bubble up, her voice gets stronger, and the questions follow one another. "What drives these people? Is it wrong to seek the right to education? To live freely? To speak without fear?" 

Dignity

Sometimes she thinks, Zafira says, that "these men are afraid of women”. Her voice shakes, but she laughs a little. I laugh with her, but the question is not far-fetched. Why does one gender seek to silence the other? Psychologists, historians, sociologists, comedians have all tried to answer this question. It must be more than simple interpretations of religious beliefs. 

Why would you silence women by law, impose extensive restrictions and, significantly, deepen an already severe curtailment of women's rights? Why would you even ban women's voices in public?

"One day, I hope to create educational programs in Afghanistan to reduce gender discrimination. Women should be seen there as individuals with great potential who can challenge the world with their thoughts and talents”, the student says.

Resilience

Zafira’s situation in Afghanistan became increasingly complicated after 2020 when the international community left her country in a cloak-and-dagger-operation. She and her family belong to a minority in a country with more than a dozen ethnic groups and tribes: Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen, Baluch, Pachaie, Nuristani, Aymaq, Arab, Qirghiz, Qizilbach, Gujur, Brahwui. 

Zafira's father, who worked for an Afghan government agency in the field of education, was involved in a council that advocated for the rights of Aymaq. He lost his job when another Taliban regime took over the country. The threats he received led him to leave the country for Pakistan. By leaving, he and his family could live with a lower profile. 

His daughter worked at a law school. One morning, the doors of her university remained closed. Zafira was no longer allowed to continue teaching. The de facto authorities’ new law deprived her and more than 14 million of other women in Afghanistan of access to education and force them to live in an unbearable situation. These days, Afghan women are not even allowed to go out for a walk. Zafira’s mother still lives in Afghanistan, along with three of her siblings. "Every time we talk, I tell my mom to stay strong," Zafira says. "She's the strongest person I know." 

Boundaries

While searching for a study program, Zafira was still active in the Aymaq Council, where they supported women seeking a mandate in the Afghan parliament. When it became clear that there was no way back to university and education, she decided to leave and study abroad. Her first destination was Iran, which hosts some 3.8 million refugees from neighboring countries, most of them from Afghanistan. 

Zafira rented a room in a town near Tehran and started working in a food packaging company. For the next year, her life was as dangerous as it was nerve-wracking. She received random visits from the “morality police” and inspections by state agents who keep a close eye on women. 
In her free time, she researched study programs. She was interested in continuing her academic career at a university in Europe. "There are different people, different opinions, different regions. I appreciate that. I am very happy that you gave me the chance to be here." Zafira beams as she talks about her studies, but the questions return as she tells her story. “Why should you make a difference between men and women? Where does that opinion come from? Why are you interfering in other people's lives? We are none of your business!”

Paper Walls

In the summer of 2023, she applied for an international master's degree program at the University of Regensburg. She was accepted. Immense joy was followed by disillusionment. Her application for a student visa at the German Embassy in Tehran was not processed. It would have required Zafira to have legally resided in Iran for at least six months. This was not the case at that time. 

A further issue arose due to the internal distribution of responsibilities within the German Foreign Office. The German Embassy in Islamabad would have been the relevant authority for processing her visa application, rather than the German Embassy in Tehran. Consequently, Zafira would have been required to travel from Iran to Pakistan, bypassing Afghanistan. In Islamabad, she would have had to wait for weeks, maybe months. 

Borders

Following a period of apprehension and distress, she finally got assistance from the Strategic Litigation Unit at UR's Faculty of Law. They provided her with guidance and representation as she proceeded to court in Berlin, ultimately resolving the issue. In the summer of 2024, she was granted her student visa for Germany, which would commence on September 10, 2024.

In the initial months of 2024, however, another visa-related issue emerged. Nationals of Afghanistan are required to obtain visas to enter and live in Iran. These visas must be renewed every six months for a period of six months. Zafira's visa had expired, necessitating the acquisition of a new one within a five-month timeframe. 

However, the authorities turned her down - she had a German visa. But living in Iran without a visa meant a fine, or worse, arrest and possible deportation to Afghanistan. Zafira went through a lot of anxiety and discussions with Iranian authorities because she could not find the money to pay for additional procedures in a country where observers say corruption reigns supreme. 

Pride

At the same time, she had to pretend to live with her uncle, since it is suspicious for women to live alone in Iran. Two of her brothers tried to be present for some of the "moral" checks. Another vabanque-game, again and again. By leaving Afghanistan, the young men drew the police's attention to Zafira's mother back there and risked their own safety by returning. Eventually, a visa deal was struck. The prospective student had to pay 80 million toman, about 1,400 euros, to stay in the country for another five months. She borrowed the money from friends.

Her siblings, her parents - they are all very proud of her, says Zafira with a big smile. She enjoys the opportunities at UR offered by her study program, she is enthusiastic about UR's International Office, she likes her roommates in the dormitory who help her learn German and get used to the European way of life. But knowing that her mother and two 15-year-old sisters still live in one of the world’s most dangerous places for women is more than a downer. Still, her mother is happy that one of her daughters is now studying in a place where she “can live happy and free and in peace”. 

Hopes

Living free and safe is the most important moment for any citizen in any country, says Zafira. “A gift that many people apparently seem not to understand”. 
Thinking about the situation in Afghanistan, she would like to "change the mindset of those who call women 'intellectually deficient'". By creating programs and projects where men and women work together as equals, "we can change negative attitudes about women and outdated beliefs”, Zafira believes. “With this approach, we will be able to create a society free from gender or ethnic discrimination and contribute to the progress of the country with fairness, respect and equality".

Freedom 

As our meeting takes place in the third week of the semester, Zafira is busy preparing for her first classes, updating her laptop, and getting excited about what the university has to offer in terms of courses, support from the International Office, and her study program. Slowly, she’s starting to relax, leaving behind the times when she could not leave the house alone. 
But when she goes out, she still has to get used to not looking around to see if someone is following her. The fear of being followed, of being asked where she would go as a woman, the previous possible consequences are slowly fading away. Does she like Regensburg? She does. "And when I want to go for a walk, I just go".