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The Conversation

Factual: Life Stories

Two women from different parts of the world share the stories of their lives

Two women from different parts of the world, united by a common passion, experience or expertise, share the stories of their lives.

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The Conversation: Women crossing borders and seeking refuge

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Nyasha Masi and Hajira Zaman

08/08/2022 GMT

Women crossing borders and seeking refuge

BBC World Service - The Conversation, Women crossing borders and seeking refuge

Women from Afghanistan and Zimbabwe on having to leave their country and find a new home

Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women who fled Afghanistan and Zimbabwe in fear for their lives and who are now trying to build a future for themselves abroad.

According to the United Nations, at the end of 2021, 89.4 million people around the world had been forced to flee their homes as a result of persecution, conflict, human rights violations or other events. Among them are nearly 27.1 million refugees. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women from Afghanistan and Zimbabwe about having to leave their country.

Hajira Zaman is 29 years old and left Afghanistan in November 2021. She’d been working in a dentist’s clinic when the Taliban entered the clinic and told her she couldn’t work with a male doctor – unless she took her husband, brother or father with her. After threats from the Taliban she, her husband and young son fled the country. Hajira was nine months pregnant and had her baby shortly after arriving in Pakistan.

Nyasha Masi is a refugee from Zimbabwe living in Cape Town. She was abused by her family for being gay and forced into marriage. She made the devastating decision to leave without her three year old daughter and escaped to South Africa. She now works with the charity Safe Place International and has set up her own group for LGBTI+ refugees called Pachedu. Her daughter (now a teenager) has joined her.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Nyasha Masi, courtesy Nyasha Masi. (R) Hajira Zaman, courtesy Hajira Zaman.)

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