An Afghan refugee has written a visceral and revealing book that reveals the practical and emotional plight of his generation, whose dreams of building a modern, pluralistic nation in their homeland were destroyed by the return of the Taliban.

Mohammed Asif Fayaz wrote the book after fleeing Afghanistan for Pakistan, where he and his family spent three years before recently being resettled in Australia.

Titled ‘Exile in Hope: A Narrative of the Dreams and Struggles of the Hazaras in Afghanistan’, the book is a compilation of ten separate but related stories that evoke and embody the story of Afghanistan and its people over the last few decades.

“The book sums up my life and the situation my generation faced and why many of us left Afghanistan,” Asif said.

“The book represents the story of my life between the two terms of Taliban rule over the past two decades. It is also explaining the story of my generation, my peers, and our lost dreams of a better future.

“We were basically a generation intent on building our country but because of the Taliban, that dream ended,” he said.

But Asif said many of his peers hold hopes of one day returning to Afghanistan to rebuild the country.

Like many of his émigré compatriots, his journey from Kabul to Melbourne has been dangerous and difficult.

“When the Taliban came, we had to escape to Pakistan. I worked in the media as a journalist for seven years and then went to work in the Attorney General’s Office in key positions including Head of the Information and Public Relations Department, Advisor in International Relations, Head of the Directorate of Services and Head of Appeal Prosecutor for Ghazni province. These things made me a target of the Taliban,” Asif said. 

“When the Taliban entered Kabul, all I was thinking was how to get my family out. During the first Taliban regime, Hazaras faced genocide and I thought they would do the same again,” he said.

Asif sent his family to Quetta, in Pakistan. But he did not go with them because he believed his presence would put their lives a t risk.

“I sent my family to Quetta, and I followed later disguised as a peasant. I arranged for a smuggler with a car to get me into Pakistan,” he said.

Asif arrived in Pakistan on August 18, 2021, three days after the fall of Kabul. He and his family arrived in Melbourne in February and settled in Dandenong, in the city’s south-east.

“We weren’t safe in Pakistan either and life was challenging. Even after crossing the border there was no housing. We stayed in local mosques and in different houses and places for shelter,” he said.

Asif and his family spent three-and-a-half years in Quetta.

“Once I was arrested for being illegally in Pakistan,” he said.

“Even while in Pakistan, the threats from the Taliban continued through WhatsApp messages asking me to return to Afghanistan. They threatened me and said that I would not be eligible for the pardon of the leader of this group,” he said.

Asif and his family connected with the UN refugee agency UNHCR and were eventually given a resettlement opportunity in Australia. They arrived in Melbourne in February and settled in Dandenong, in the city’s south-east.

“After just four weeks, I feel like this is my home. Everything in Australia is good. There is respect and peace, there are the services we need. There is a schooling and safety for my son. There are great opportunities here to make our dreams come true,” Asif said.

“We feel relaxed and grateful to be here.  My life was in danger in Afghanistan, but Australia helped us and now my family is safe.

“Now I can tell the story of my people’s misfortune. In my country, people don’t have this right, and no one can tell the truth. I want people in Australia and the world to know us through our true stories.

“Unlike the Taliban, the people of Afghanistan value education for both boys and girls. We hate war and violence and have been victims of it for centuries. We want to be effective in the progress and development of our country, but due to ethnic and religious prejudices, we are not given this opportunity.

“I wrote the book when the girls in my village were again deprived of school when the Taliban returned. This was not what we wanted. This is not what we fought for. We can’t even believe what happened.

“The book talks about the experiences of Hazaras – their endeavour for development while struggling with poverty and discrimination. It also talks about my own battle with poverty and discrimination until I finally got into senior positions in journalism and the justice system in Afghanistan.

“One story titled ‘Two and half months of business and rape’ in the book, goes into the story of a minor Hazara girl who was abducted and raped in Kabul for two and half months and when her case was being investigated by the Attorney General’s office, the authorities tried to exploit her sexually.

“A lot of people tried to cover up the story of the abduction and rape inside the office. I was involved indirectly because I was Hazara, and the girl’s family came to me for support. I also got death threats over it,” Asif said.          

Another story is titled ‘Scent of Milk’.

“This tells of the time that I was recommended for a job by the former president Hamid Karzai, but I had to wait many months because of discrimination against me as a Hazara,” Asif said.

In another of his stories Asif tells of how his family set up a school for girls in their village home.

“When I was 17, the girls had no schools in our village, so I, with a small motivated and optimistic team, established a school for them. I turned our house in the village of Lakhshak Haider into a school,” he said.

In another story Asif tells how when he was in the 11^th grade, he had to go to Kabul to prepare for university entrance exams but was suffering financial hardship at the time.

“I had run out of money, so I went to Kandahar and worked in a cookie bakery,” he said.

Yet another story titled ‘Tears Near Tea’ tells how during the first Taliban occupation, when Asif was in the ninth grade, he went to Iran to work because the schools closed.

“I worked in a gas factory making pipes. It was a hard time,” he said.

Asif tells other stories in the book, which he says are true accounts of the lives of the Hazara people.

He plans to publish this book and says the stories are exposes of issues around love of country, life in poverty and discrimination, invincibility and the horrific realities of crime.

Asif is seeking support to translate and publish his book so that his stories, full of excitement, love and struggle, can be shared with others.