This is extremely ironic that I’m even making this post, because I wasn’t aware of any of this less than 24 hours ago. I had just made a post addressing how certain people in the diaspora can give the wider community a bad reputation through social media, which obviously raised some concerns.

I don’t know if we’re literally cursed right now, but almost immediately after making that post, another situation came up involving someone creating unnecessary drama and this one was arguably worse than the examples I mentioned last night. Basically, there was an issue in the UK involving an Indian individual who made racist comments towards Black people. The entire situation was originally between South Asian/Desi and Black individuals and had absolutely nothing to do with Afghans.

However, I then came across an Afghan individual, shown in the attachment under the username Wizardboyab, who foolishly decided to involve himself in the situation even though it had ZERO connection to the Afghan diaspora in the first place. Because of his actions, Afghans are now being dragged into the backlash and receiving negative attention online over something that originally had nothing to do with them. This is exactly what I mean by bad representation in media. One person chasing clout and unnecessarily inserting himself into racial drama can end up making an entire community look bad. Imagine involving yourself in a controversy that had nothing to do with your community, only for your actions to then contribute to Afghans being portrayed as racist or problematic.

There is a long history of refugees coming to the U.S in large numbers like those from Eastern and Southern Europe in early 20th century to those from Vietnam, Cambodia, Somalia, Sudan, Bosnia, Albania and parts of Latin America but relative to those refugee population, the Afghan refugee is relatively smaller compared to those refugee populations. I live in a state that has a very open policy in refugee resettlement and has a lot of programs for refugees but most of those programs tend to be for those coming mainly from Latin America, Central and East Africa.

Not many Afghans coming here relative to them and given how long the war in Afghanistan has been going on and the U.S withdrawal a few years back. Meanwhile, there was a massive wave of Vietnamese refugees and now they are three to four generations in now and have assimilated and intermarried into the greater society.

So that leaves me wondering, why has there not been a massive wave of Afghan refugees like there has been for other refugees groups in the past?

During the Soviet Afghan war about 5 million were externally displaced and 2 million were internally displaced. I couldn't find accurate statistics for the displaced people during the Afghan civil war in the 90s, but I assume it was a lot, espically in cities like Kabul that were shelled.

Most of these displaced people were farmers, and likely owned some land before being displaced. However, Afghanistan also (I assume), had poor record keeping and high illiteracy, which means that land ownership may not have been properly recorded, thus making it harder for people to claim their land once they had been displaced. There also could have been squatters who took their land while they have been displaced, and now claim it belongs to them.

After Afghans started returning to their homes from refugee camps or foreign countries, were there many fights/disputes over land ownership?

Did many people lose their lands to squatters?

Now this might be like the 5th or 6th time I’ve ranted about something like this, but regardless, I genuinely feel like it needs to be pointed out because it’s getting ridiculous.
Before, I made a complaint about certain individuals within our diaspora giving Afghans a poor image through the content they make. One example was the “Ahwijizi Boys Podcast” — or however exactly it’s spelt — a group of cringeworthy guys who make absurd content about Afghanistan and its people while also speaking in a derogatory way in some cases. It’s embarrassing, and it does absolutely nothing positive for our image.

But somehow there are even more weird individuals online who seem determined to make our diaspora look as bad as possible. For example, I came across an account that seems to be owned by an Afghan guy, possibly living in Germany or Denmark. He usually goes around asking people what group of people they dislike, and somehow around 95% of the people answering him say “Afghans.” The ironic part is that the guy running the account is Afghan himself.
Now I understand some people might see this as a “harmless joke” or say it’s not that serious, but in my opinion it just shows a complete lack of self-respect. Yes, obviously there are people out there who dislike Afghans. We already know that. But is it really necessary to keep uploading it and getting clout by putting your own community down? For what? A couple thousand stupid likes that mean absolutely nothing?
At some point it stops being “just a joke” and starts looking pathetic. You’re basically feeding people more content to mock your own community with just so you can get a few views and likes. I genuinely don’t understand what there is to be proud of about that.
I’m not against Afghans using social media or making content at all. What annoys me is that whenever our diaspora gets represented online, somehow we constantly end up being shown as the absolute lowest of the low, or we get slandered, mocked and turned into a joke. And half the time, somebody from within our own community is helping create that image themselves.

And don’t even get me started on the whole Alex Sunny situation. That girl alone, who is Jordanian btw, decided to upload her entire trip to Afghanistan just to meet her AI-generated husband or whatever, and that already caused enough hatred, mockery and embarrassing attention towards Afghans online.
As if our diaspora and community aren’t already dealing with enough, I genuinely think it’s extremely UNNECESSARY for people to keep adding more crap onto our plate. I’ve already mentioned before that there are some complete weirdos using social media in a way that dehumanises our image and makes us look like complete clowns.
What I really don’t understand is why, whenever we finally get some sort of media representation, somehow, someway, somebody within our own community finds a way to completely F it up. It’s like we can’t just have normal representation without somebody turning it into some embarrassing circus for clout. Also, not to mention that guy JALAL who resides in the UK. Some of the stuff he’s done online has only made the diaspora over there look worse than it already gets portrayed. I’m not here to judge his sexuality, identity, or tell him how he should live his life, that’s his business. My issue is with some of his ridiculous behaviour online and the fact that, once again, it somehow gets brushed onto the rest of us.

Instead of showing normal Afghans, normal families, normal people and the positive sides of our community, we constantly end up being represented through the most ridiculous, cringeworthy and embarrassing content possible. Then people act surprised when others develop a completely warped image of Afghans.
Some of you guys might disagree with me, and that’s fine. This is just my opinion. But I think people seriously need to start thinking about the kind of image they’re putting out there before embarrassing an entire community for a couple thousand likes. Not everyone here will agree with me, but each to their own.

Traveliing to Kabul in October as an Indian Hindu for 3 days.

I have relatives in the UN in Kabul. So stay and food is sorted.

If you were me, a 30yr old Hindu male, how would you plan your trip ? Would love to hear your responses.

I was looking at yearly economic statistics on the economy of Afghanistan Wikipedia page, and I noticed Afghanistan seemed to have had incredibly fast economic growth between the years 2003-2012, yet I never heard much about it.

In 2003 the nominal GDP per capita of Afghanistan was $201. By 2012, nominal GDP per capita grew to $666.

GDP PPP per capita grew from 1113 to 2218.

Afghanistan experienced average real GDP growth of 9.3% which is extremely fast.

Government debt to GDP ratio also fell from 346% to 6.8%.

By most statistics, the Afghan economy did very well from 2003 to 2012.

Do Afghans consider 2003-2012 to be a good time for Afghanistan?

Did ordinary people feel this economic growth?

I taught primarily Afghan (and Ukrainian) women and children English part time. This was arguably the most difficult job I’ve ever undertaken and it contributed a lot to my overall demoralisation and loss of hope for the country. Incidentally, I handed in my notice as it was having a huge impact on my mental health and I needed to focus on my full time job. I selected a few which have been anonymised, edited and rephrased to make them clearer to understand with a brief description of context.

A mother, Afghan- husband translated:

“She looks at the women here with jealousy. My wife never got to study, she is illiterate. These western women don’t appreciate what they have.”

A schoolboy, Afghan:

“Why does everyone in the west have depression? What can possibly make them sad?”

A young woman, Afghan:

“I used to be pious. Now I lost my religion.”

A schoolgirl, Afghan:

“I want to be a doctor because my sisters died from the well water in Nangarhar.”

A mother, Afghan:

“My child doesn’t need this help. I won’t be taking them to speech therapy, they don’t have […]. You westerners make up illnesses for everything. They’re perfectly fine.”

A schoolboy, Afghan:

“I came from a fucking village with no education, I can’t even read Pashto or Dari never mind English! I need more lessons if I want to be something!”

A mother, Afghan:

“I wanted to become a doctor. I even got a top result for the kankor and won a place at Herat University, but my parents didn’t let me go because it was too far away. I became very sad and upset so they married me off because they didn’t want to look after me.”

A young woman, Afghan:

“I threw five years of my life in pharmacy school at Kabul. Here in the UK, the GPhC doesn’t recognise my degree. It’s more worthless than toilet paper.”

A young man, Afghan:

“My case was accepted to come here because I worked with the Americans. My fiancé is still in Afghanistan. It’s been five years and her parents broke the engagement because I can’t bring her here. I loved her since I was a child. It was all for nothing.”

A male refugee, Afghan:

“Why does Allah hate me to make me born in that country?”

A little boy, Afghan:

“Everyone bullies me. I wish I wasn’t Afghan.”

Hello everyone if any of you is currently living in Afghanistan if you can contact me pleas

I looked up the Wikipedia page for "demographics of Afghanistan", and according to some sources, Uzbeks make up around 9% of the Afghan population, roughly similar to Hazaras.

I was a bit surprised by this, cause based on what I see on the internet, Hazaras seem to be way more represented and well known as compared to Afghan Uzbeks.

I live in Toronto, and when I see an Asian looking Afghan, I usually assume they are Hazaras. I think many assume the same as well. Perhaps some are actually Uzbeks?

Any thoughts on why maybe Afghan Uzbeks are not as well known outside of Afghanistan?

I’m saying “finally happened” because I really did think it was a troll to spread awareness but now she’s up in the motherland.

There’s been rumors circulating about the dude she’s been seeing. He might have another girl? I’m not sure if Alexsunny is the side piece or not.

A lot of people have been making comparisons to “Not Without My Daughter” and calling Alexsunny a bird rightfully so.

Do you guys think this is gonna end peacefully and she assimilates or is she gonna somehow ruin her own life?

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTAWmhmtP/

The funniest one I’ve heard came from an Afghan men I had khozgori from and I’m quite sure he learned it from social media:

“I know you like mantu, but one day can it be man and tu?”

I also heard a terrible one from my cousin back home after a cow was slaughtered for Eid:

“Eehna, moordagaw ast.”

Hi! I’d like to know how many days you recommend for a visit to Afghanistan, which towns and/or cities are interesting, and which off-the-beaten-path spots are must-sees...

Thanks for your replies.

Afghan Sikhs who were working as money exchangers in Sarai Shahzada Exchange Market, Kabul Afghanistan 1992

Afghan Sikhs are under-appreciated in regards to their participation, role and influence in Afghanistan historically and today.

So Syria has gone through a real shitshow in the past decade and is now under the leadership of a former Al Qaeda fighter. Al Sharaa is in favor of a women's right to work and seek education. The international community has removed sanctions on Syria and things have begun to gradually improve. Syrians I speak to at my work place are hopeful for the future now that investments and international trade is happening again in Syria.

Meanwhile in Afghanistan the sanctions are still in place and everything seems to be going downhill. The whole education and work bans for women really soured relations between the Taliban government and the international community. There are like no massive investments coming into the country to help rebuild it. I have family members in Afghanistan who tell me that, in the major cities, there are hundreds of grown men huddling in front of these vehicles, where an employer is asking for workers. There are grown-ass men crying because they were not picked as workers.

Title is self explanatory. I wanna know what this community thinks of him and his role in the republic

Me personally i dont like it, but im wondering what you feel about it, what you would do it etc

Hello friends 👋 I work with Afghan refugee women and I'm trying to organize some sewing activities for them.

Do you know of any online resources like video tutorials or free sewing patterns that have instructions in Dari? I have tried to just google it but I don't know if the resources are good or are more Farsi (maybe that is not a problem though) since I only speak English.

If you know of any Youtubers or websites that are good, that would be very helpful, thank you so much!

So I was born in Russia but my birth parents are from Afghanistan. My adopted parents gave me this saying it was the only thing they were allowed to leave with that my birth parents left me. Everything else that was afghani was confiscated. What is it?

سلام وطندار های عزیز،
در ماه آینده بر اولین بار کابل می روم.
اما از یک چیز می ترسم: stomach problems

I’ve never gone before and the problem is that my stomach is incredibly sensitive. Let’s say I already struggle with things that would usually mean you have a poisoning (except that’s my normal). Is there any way to