Proud university graduates, Abdul Wahab and Homa looked forward to using their skills in Kazakhstan – the country that granted them asylum.
©UNHCR/Anzhela Son
The future looked bright for Afghan newlyweds Homa and Abdul Wahab. Having finished her studies, Homa was already working as an architect on a large national project. Abdul Wahab had just graduated in Kazakhstan with a philosophy and economics degree, and returned home to Kabul to work as a university lecturer.
Then the bombing started.
For three months they sheltered in the basement of their home, with only flour and water to sustain themselves. The first day that felt safe enough to come out, they got in a taxi and drove to the border, fleeing for their lives.
After a brief stay in Pakistan, the young couple came to Kazakhstan. “When we came here, I felt calm after all the suffering and all the feelings of the war that we saw in Kabul,” says Abdul Wahab. “We had food to eat; we really felt comfortable here”.
Abdul Wahab and Homa were recognised as refugees by the Government of Kazakhstan.
That was 30 years ago this year.
Abdul Wahab graduated from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in the 1990s. “Well, the reason why I studied philosophy and economics is because it was a really prestigious faculty to study,” reflects Abdul Wahab. “The main interesting idea is the rivalry between materialism and idealism.”
Materialism asserts that the basis of reality is matter and physical forces, whereas idealism holds that it is more mind, ideas, or consciousness.
“I studied that we should choose materialism over idealism,” continues Abdul Wahab. “Even in Afghanistan I could find a good job with a good salary in that profession. Then there was the revolution in Afghanistan, idealists came to power. And that’s why we came to Kazakhstan.”
“The thing is the fight between materialism and idealism is still going on – neither of them won the race.”
“When I came here first, I didn’t know the language,” says Homa. “I had neighbours here, old women, and they asked me to join them, and they became my friends. I used to listen to their talks, and that’s how I learned the language.”
As of December 2024, Kazakhstan hosts 311 refugees – 202 from Afghanistan. Most refugees in Kazakhstan have lived in the country for years – some, like Homa and Abdul Wahab, have lived here for decades. Despite speaking Russian and Kazakh and being socially integrated, refugees still face barriers in accessing due rights and services, including healthcare, social protection and legal employment.
“The hardest thing in Kazakhstan is that we cannot work,” says Abdul Wahab. “And we cannot register as individual entrepreneurs” – a status that would allow them to start up and operate their own businesses.
“The hardest thing in Kazakhstan is that we cannot work,” says Abdul Wahab.
Although national law allows refugees to work, legal employment remains out of reach for many due to gaps in bylaws, exclusion from social protection including pension, their one-year temporary residency permits, and often discrimination.
Having the opportunity to earn a living by work freely chosen and accepted is a fundamental human right, and critical to enable a person to earn an income to support themselves, their families, and contribute to the sustainable development of their communities.
“We are very concerned about our future, because this is a rented apartment, the landlord can say go whenever they want to say,” says Abdul Wahab. “We don’t have our own apartment, we don’t have pensions. When we were young it was ok, but now we are aging, we are not as active.”
Unable to obtain legal employment, the aging couple depends on social assistance from UNHCR and its partner Kazakhstan Red Crescent Society.
“For instance, I’m selling umbrellas,” says Abdul Wahab. “Starting November to March, I don’t have a job – I cannot sell them because it’s not the (rainy) months. We try to save money to live over winter. If not for the Red Crescent, we couldn’t pass this winter too.”
Homa and Abdul Wahad also received winter clothing items donated by UNHCR partner Fast Relating Ltd/ UNIQLO. Since 2006, Fast Retailing has been working with UNHCR to respond to humanitarian situations through financial and non-financial contributions and has contributed to solutions by employing refugees in many other countries.
UNHCR works in close partnership with the Government of Kazakhstan, supporting the country to protect refugees and find sustainable solutions to build better futures for them. At the 2023 Global Refugee Forum, Kazakhstan pledged to provide refugees with equal access to medical care, employment, education, and social assistance on par with citizens and permanently residing foreigners.
UNHCR advocates for longer residence permits for refugees, and due access to rights and services, enabling them to contribute to the sustainable development of the communities hosting them, including through paying taxes and healthcare levies. Through its partners, Kazakhstan Red Crescent Society and Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, UNHCR provides legal and social assistance to forcibly displaced people.
As university graduates, Abdul Wahab and Homa were a dynamic duo before widespread violence, conflict and human rights abuses forced them to flee Afghanistan. Thirty years ago, they had the rest of their lives ahead of them in Kazakhstan, motivated to build a better future and contribute to the society that protected them.
“This is my story, this is my life,” says Abdul Wahab. “It’s a real story, and we are real people. I’m not ashamed of anything. Refugee status is common worldwide.”
“This is my story, this is my life,” says Abdul Wahab. “It’s a real story, and we are real people. I’m not ashamed of anything. Refugee status is common worldwide.”
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