Citizenship rules are different in Afghanistan

As a Canadian of Afghan descent I would like to share with all of you something that you may not know very well about what the children of Afghan refugees deal with.

I do not know Maryam Monsef; I heard about her only after she was elected. But based on what I have learned since, I can tell with high confidence that she is not an Iranian citizen.

What is not known to many people in countries like the U.S., Canada, Australia, or other countries with similar immigration and citizenship policies is that in many eastern countries (even some European countries) one does not get citizenship of a country just by being born there unless their parents are/were citizens of that country. About five to six million Afghans lived and have been living in Pakistan and Iran for the past 38 years. With very limited exceptions, none of the children born in Iran or Pakistan are considered citizens by those countries. They don’t get the rights or privileges of a citizen; they are just refugees!

What is more interesting (or painful) is that Afghanistan does not seem recognize foreign countries as the place of birth of its citizen. Odd? Well, it is true at the registration office. As recent as last year, I know of individuals who were born in Iran and, are in their teens and went to Afghanistan to obtain their national ID card. The office of registration (under the Ministry of Interior) refused to enter their place of birth as Tehran, Iran. The officers told them that they would only enter their place of birth the same as their father’s place of birth.

Many people in Afghanistan do not even know their date of birth, because the Ministry of Interior only estimates the year of birth (I am not aware if that is going to change). Unless someone in their families wrote their date of birth somewhere privately, those who go to other countries end up estimating their date of birth based on what their family members remember and the year that is shown on the national ID. Most of those memories are not accurate, and many have lost their national ID to the fires of war.

Children born in Iran or Pakistan to Afghan parents are Afghans in the eyes of the governments of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. This same applies to Minister Monsef.