Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by Shalu Yadav & Sharique Ahmad
01:12 Shalu Yadav | DW Correspondent

SCRIPT:

00:03 – 00:14
They’re making Kabuli Pulao – Afghan’s national dish. The aroma as it cooks is as close to home as these women can get.

00:15 – 00:22
We cannot SHOW the smiles on their faces – these Afghan students are scared for their safety – even though they’re in India.

00:24 – 00:37
Their visas have either run out or are about to – so they’ll soon all be illegal here. That makes working and renting homes very hard.
To get new documents, they’d have to go back to Afghanistan.

00:39 – 01:03
+++ Byte (Hindi) +++
Even if we have to do menial jobs or go hungry in India ... we don't want to go to Afghanistan at all. If we go there, then our entire careers, our entire futures... all the hard work will all be wasted. There, the girls are being treated like animals ... my brother called me and said... no matter how many problems you face in India, find a way out for your career. If not in India, then outside India. But don't 
ever utter the name of Afghanist

an in your life.+++

01:04 – 01:09
They have basic civil liberties in India, but that could change any moment.

01:11 – 01:32
PTC: Every time these Afghan girls step outside their homes, it’s a gamble with their future. There’s constant fear of being stopped by authorities and deported to Afghanistan — a country many describe as a vast prison for women. There, they would not be allowed to leave their house at all without a man — even to do something as basic as grocery shopping.

01:33 – 01:50
There are dozens of Afghan students like these – stuck in limbo.
India not having a refugee law makes their situation all the more complicated. Asylum requests by foreigners are dealt with on a case-by-case basis, but these women haven’t had any luck.

01:52 – 02:13
Even the UN office here says that they can't do anything to help us. They only say that there is no law for refugees in India, so they can't do anything. If we show our UN refugee cards at the foreign registration office, asking for help, they throw them in our faces and tell us they’re worthless.

02:15 – 02:45
They saw what happened in 2021, when the Americans left Afghanistan to the Taliban. They watched in horror as the world shrank for their female friends and relatives. Being here felt safe – but they were dismayed when democratic India established diplomatic ties with the Talib regime.
Now they fear Taliban officials in India might come after them and send them back to Afghanistan.

02:45 – 03:15
My biggest fear is that if I step into Afghanistan and someone comes and takes me away. I won't be able to reach my family.... We hear in news that the Taliban kidnap girls and take them away. Secondly, my entire future will be ruined there. My entire career will be ruined. It's like chopping the wings of a free bird.

03:16 – 03:24
Their life in India remains in the shadows... and working illegally makes these women vulnerable to abuse.

03:25 – 03:35
As a woman, I ask the Indian government that if you truly call yourself a friend to the Afghan people, this is the time to help your friends.

Ends