After the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan in 2021, Nawida fled with her family to neighboring Iran. The lawyer had helped send members of the Islamist group to jail, and feared being arrested — or killed — for her work.
More than three years later, she is again in hiding — this time in a Tehran suburb with her siblings and eight-year-old son. Iran has embarked on a massive deportation drive of the country’s 3 million-plus population of Afghan refugees, some of whom authorities say aided Israel’s airstrikes on the country last month.
"I don’t know for how long we can keep ourselves like prisoners and I don’t know what lies ahead for us,” said Nawida, who no longer has a valid visa and didn’t want to give her full name to avoid being identified. "We’re calling out loud on the international community to reach out and help us.”
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