Lower thirds:
0:03  Report by/Nicholas Welsh
0:36  Rahela / Afghan returnee
0:55  Sahar / Afghan returnee
1:50  Faiza / Student
2:13  Sahar / Afghan returnee

Script:
00:01
It was a return she had been dreading. 
00:05
After the Iranian government cracked down on Afghan migrants, Rahela and her teenage daughters moved back to her father’s home in the Afghan city of Herat. 
00:15
Separated from her husband, and with an elderly father, Rahela finds herself without a male guardian.
Under the Taliban’s laws, women must be accompanied by a man to travel any significant distances.
Leaving Rahela effectively confined to her home.

00:35
+++SOT Rahela+++
There’s nothing I can say about any plans I have, because our hands are tied. In a society where you can’t do anything, there’s no room for making plans either.

00:49
For her daughter Sahar, returning to Afghanistan was a move from bad to worse. 

00:55 +++SOT Sahar+++
“In Iran, they didn’t allow me to study the field I was passionate about at school. //WB// When I came back to Afghanistan, I hoped to continue my education — but the Taliban shut everything down, and I couldn’t study here either.”

01:10
Under the Taliban, Afghanistan is the only country in the world to bar girls from education beyond primary school.
01:19
The only way they can continue any kind of education is through religious schools, known as madrassas.
01:27
Here they study the Quran, Islamic law, Arabic, and the teaching of the Prophet Muhammad.
01:33
Before the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Faiza had completed the 12th grade. Her goal was to become a doctor.

01:42
She says she hopes to return to university one day and fulfil that dream

01:49 +++SOT Faiza, Student:+++
"When my family sees that I am learning Quranic sciences and that I am practicing all the teachings of the Quran in my life, of the Quran, they will allow us to go to university.”

02:07
Sahar does not share Faiza's optimism 

02:12 +++SOT Sahar+++
I see the future as very bleak. At first, I thought that in my own country, I could achieve something or reach a good position — but after coming here, I realised that it’s even worse than Iran.”

02:26
But that doesnt mean she's given up hope entirely.

02:30
+++SOT Sahar+++

“Nothing is permanent. God has created day and night to replace one another — meaning no situation is ever permanent, because day passes and night comes, and vice versa. This regime might change too. Maybe we’ll reach our dreams one day. A person always holds hope for the future — without hope, life isn’t possible.”

02:50 +++AutoRaus Ende+++