Öznur Değer - Dilan Babat

 

ANKARA - Settling in Iran due to the war in Afghanistan and then immigrating to Turkey due to male violence, P.R. is now facing racist attacks. P., who could not even complain due to the silence of the police, emphasizes that she ‘’does not feel safe’’.

 

The deepening war in the Middle East countries affects women and children in particular, while those who try to hold on to life fall to migration ways. Every year, thousands of refugees, asylum seekers are forced to migrate to Turkey by fleeing the war in order to hold on to life. Refugees who flee from the war and pursue the dream of a ‘’better life’’ are made a target as a result of racist policies in the countries where they settled.

 

Being an Afghan refugee in Iran...

 

One of the numerous migrant women who migrated to Turkey to have better living conditions is 34-year-old P.R., who lives in Ankara’s Altındağ district. Originally from Afghanistan, P.’s family immigrated to Iran in 1985 due to the Soviet-Afghan war in Afghanistan. Born and raised as a refugee in Isfahan city of Iran, P. is one of those who started being exposed to the refugee policies of the state at an early age. Faced with male violence this time after getting married at the age of 20, P. begins to live in a camp in the province of Khuzestan.

 

‘Women were not allowed to work’

 

Drawing attention to the difficulties of living as a refugee in Iran, P. says that refugees are placed in camps in Khuzestan and that they are prohibited from living in other places other than the camps reserved for them. P., who lives in the camp with her husband and her two children, is exposed to the violence of the man she was married to for years. Pointing out that they did not have any rights in the camp, P. Said: ‘’Mostly Afghans stayed in the camp. We lived there in very small rooms. We lived in a 50 square meters house. Not everyone could work freely as they wanted. They only allowed men to work. Women were not allowed to work. They (men) also had to get permission to work. When they wanted to work, they received a document from the camp and they could not go out of the city without that document.’’

 

‘I came to Turkey so that they would not make decisions about me’

 

Stating that she stayed in the camp for eight years, P. said that she decided to leave Iran to start a new life after her husband left them and settled in Afghanistan. P. Stated: ‘’It was very difficult to live in the camp. There were a lot of men there and I didn't feel safe. My children were not safe. After my spouse left, my parents wanted me to live with them. They would decide for me. Since I didn't want to live with them, I decided to leave the camp and come to Turkey in 2019.’’

 

‘There was always a fear inside me’

 

Migrating to Turkey with her two children because she opposed her family and the man’s decision about her, P. states that they stayed on the road for two days and that they could come to Turkey by running and climbing the mountains. P. said: ‘’My decision and my arrival in Turkey developed very quickly. But I was afraid. I always had a fear inside of me. After we came to Turkey, we were given a temporary identity (document). I enrolled my children in school with that identity. Right after, the coronavirus came and everything started to get very bad.’’

 

She became unemployed after the virus

 

Stating that she lived in another city before coming to Ankara and started working in a hairdresser to learn a profession there, P. said: ‘’I lost my job after coronavirus. I am having a very hard time. Sometimes I cannot get anything to eat and I have to borrow. My health insurance is also closed. I have kidney disease and need surgery. I am not good psychologically either. But I cannot go to the doctor either.’’

 

Her children were exposed to racist attacks

 

Underlining that she continues to receive threats from the man she broke up with, P. said that she does not feel safe. In addition, P. states that her children were exposed to racist attacks three times in the neighborhood where she lived and ends her words as follows: ‘’My children were battered a few times, they were exposed to violence, so they are afraid to go out. I couldn't complain because if I did, the people in the neighborhood would be hostile to us. In this neighborhood, the police don't get involved in much. Since my children are exposed to violence, I am afraid to go out too.’’