Afghan women who fled their home country to preserve their education are finding new obstacles in neighboring Iran and Pakistan. As both nations tighten residency regulations and increase deportation efforts, hundreds of girls and women who left Afghanistan to continue their studies are now being shut out of the classroom in their new host countries as well.
The situation reflects a growing crisis for Afghan students after the Taliban suspended girls' education beyond sixth grade in March 2022. The ultraconservative group later banned women from universities in December of that year and restricted attendance at medical training courses in December 2024. The United Nations reported in August that approximately 2.4 million girls in Afghanistan have been denied secondary education since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, making Afghanistan the only country with formal bans on female secondary and higher education.
Zahra, who moved to Tehran four years ago to finish her medical degree, says she and her sister have been excluded from education due to expired visas and a lack of legal residency permits. Speaking by phone, she noted that every application for education in Iran was rejected. "It’s not just me. Many Afghan girls here are facing the same problems," she told RFE/RL. Her real name, like those of other Afghan women in this report, was withheld for security reasons.
In Iran, the administrative landscape has become increasingly difficult for Afghan residents. Registration slips that granted temporary legal status to an estimated two million Afghans expired in March 2025. From that date, Iranian authorities limited access to services, including education, for foreigners without valid residency documents. Although officials state that the door is not entirely closed, strict rules require foreign nationals to have valid paperwork and enroll in schools within their registered areas.
Nader Yarahmadi, head of the Interior Ministry’s center for foreign nationals, told the Tasnim news agency in September that Afghan children can attend school if their parents hold valid residency permits. He added that necessary paperwork can be completed during the school year. However, many Afghans who arrived in recent years report that their visas have expired and that obtaining legal residency has become nearly impossible.
The impact of these policies is significant, with about 1.9 million Afghans returning from Iran in 2025. This group included 1.26 million who were deported. The trend continued into 2026, with nearly 492,300 Afghans deported by October 12, according to United Nations figures cited in the report. Roya, another Afghan woman in Tehran who left to pursue a master’s degree, was turned down by several universities despite holding a bachelor’s degree because she lacked a legal residency permit.
A similar story unfolds in Pakistan, where Nilofar went to continue her high school education. Living in Hazara Town in Quetta, she was never enrolled in a school after failing to secure a residency permit. Instead, she attends sporadic English language courses that do not require an identity card. "I came to Pakistan to get a proper education. Now, all I can do is take courses from time to time," she said.
Higher education in Pakistan has also been disrupted. The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council ordered hundreds of Afghan medical students to return home and instructed colleges not to facilitate their enrollment for the current academic year. While Pakistani courts have issued interim orders to protect these students from immediate deportation, their long-term future remains uncertain. Rights advocates argue that current policies fail to help those stuck in administrative backlogs or who have had their refugee status canceled.
Since Islamabad began a new wave of crackdowns on undocumented Afghans in 2023, many migrants have reported living in constant fear of police raids. The UN refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration reported that more than 2.39 million Afghans had returned from Pakistan between September 2023 and May 16, 2026. For students like Nilofar, the delay is costly. She believes that if she had continued her schooling, she would already be in her fourth semester at university.
The dual pressure of home country restrictions and host country bureaucracy has created a precarious environment for Afghan women seeking knowledge. As legal pathways narrow, the dream of completing their education becomes increasingly difficult to realize for thousands of families living in temporary limbo.
