KHORRAMDASHT (Iran): Mohammad Younus is a 46-year-old Afghan refugee who has been told he has to leave Iran and return home. But his Iranian wife, Iran Taj, refuses to accompany him because of the uncertain future in the war-devastated country.

The couple’s two daughters, Marzieh and Massumeh, 11 and 9, were born in Iran but have no identity documents and are being forced to go with their father to a nation they have never seen.

The Iranian government wants all Afghan refugees to leave because they are taking jobs away from Iranians.

There are tens of thousands of families facing the same dilemma as Mohammed’s, who live in Khorramdasht, 40 kms west of the capital Tehran.

“There are more than 100,000 illegal marriages between Afghan men and Iranian women and the women’s unwillingness to go to Afghanistan has turned the repatriation process of the refugees into a dilemma,” says Mohammad Yaqub Shah Qazi from the Afghan embassy in Tehran.

Far more problematic are the children from these marriages because most of them are not officially registered and therefore have no identity documents, the diplomat added.

In April, Tehran and Kabul began repatriating the more than two million Afghan refugees in Iran with the help of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

“What shall I do?” asks Mohammad Younus. After more than 25 years working in an Iranian factory, he lost his job last month after the repatriation agreement between Iran and Afghanistan and has to return to his home in Parvan, northeast of Kabul.

But his wife wants to stay in Iran.

“I love my husband, but if the situation in Kabul is not rife to lead a normal life, what will it be like in Parvan,” she said. “I have two daughters, I have to attend university. Who can guarantee they would even finish high school in Afghanistan.”

The girls also face an uncertain future in Iran. With an Afghan father they cannot receive Iranian documents and the Afghan embassy in Tehran is not yet ready to issue identification papers for their nationals in Iran.

The Iranian interior ministry says Iranian women have been warned on numerous occasions about marrying Afghan nationals.

As a traditional Afghan, Mohammad Younus considers himself man of the house and always makes the final decisions. But on this issue, his wife, usually a traditional, obedient Iranian wife, is firm in her opposition to leaving Iran.

“Islam and Islamic principles would never let a Muslim marriage be torn apart because of political considerations,” she said, adding that she prays every night her family is left intact.—dpa