Hafez
When the regime of ignorance and darkness closed schools in Afghanistan to millions of minds and talents eager to flourish and develop, for many families who still had a burning desire for education, Quetta was their geography of hope. Over the past four years, many there have kept the candle of knowledge and learning lit in their souls. According to statistics provided by local sources from Quetta, there were more than 50 schools for refugees in Quetta. Of those, twenty were Persian-language and operated mainly in two highly secure Hazara neighborhoods: “Mehri Abad/Mery Abad” and “Hazara Town.”
A large number of students, especially girls, who were banned from studying in Kabul by the Taliban, had gone to Quetta to continue their education. In Quetta, there were no bans and, unlike in Taliban-ruled Kabul, boys and girls could study and strive to achieve their goals and build their future.
More than 10,000 students were studying in just twenty Persian schools located in two Hazara neighborhoods of Quetta. These Persian schools graduated more than 500 students each year, more than 80 percent of whom were girls.
But in the days when no girls’ schools are open in Afghanistan and the Taliban regime continues to revolve around the same principles of ignorance, discrimination, and oppression against women, the Pakistani government also closed schools in Quetta to refugees.
Local sources from Quetta report that on September 11, 2025, Pakistani police came to the Persian-language schools of the immigrants in Hazara Town and closed all the Persian-language schools of the Afghan immigrants.
According to sources, these schools were registered with the Afghan Ministry of Education and all their educational documents were processed through the Quetta Consulate and the Education Attaché. These schools were also registered with the Baluchistan Foundation, which has now been abolished.
Sources say that in the past few days, delegations from various Pakistani departments have been coming to inquire whether these schools are registered or not. According to the sources, school officials have also been asked where they are paying taxes.
Simultaneously with this incident, the process of deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan is also sped up. On September 8, the Afghan Consulate in Pakistan, in order to prevent the deportation of refugees, sent a letter to the refugee schools in Quetta, asking the authorities to close all schools for a few days. But three days after this closure, the Pakistani police closed all schools.
Currently, all Persian-language schools for immigrants in Quetta have been closed by the Pakistani government. School officials told the Silk Way Weekly that their efforts to reopen the schools are ongoing.
According to officials, Quetta schools have always played a positive role in the Afghan education system and society, filling a huge educational gap. Over the years, immigrant students in Quetta and Hazara Town have achieved top rankings in the National Entrance Examination, won important scholarships, and excelled in universities both inside and outside the country. A number of students who graduated from Quetta’s immigrant schools have even been accepted into top-ranked universities in the world.
Along with a large number of students, a number of educated people and young teachers were also busy working and teaching in the immigrant schools in Quetta. According to local sources, about 500 teachers were teaching in the immigrant schools in Quetta.
However, with the closure of these schools, in addition to leaving the students in limbo and with a pending and unknown fate, many teachers have also become unemployed.
This is while one of the school officials says that while the Pakistani government has closed schools for refugees, there are more than 500 religious schools there that are supported by the Afghan government, and the Afghan government even pays the tuition fees of the students and teachers of those schools. According to this source, the religious schools, while not registered with the Pakistani government, are practically continuing their classes without any concern about being closed.
For families who had gone to Quetta for their daughters’ education, the closure of the refugee schools once again means a new downfall and a disaster. They had gone so that their daughters’ youth and teenage years would not be wasted and their lives and fates would not be ruined in a country where education was prohibited. But with the closure of their children’s schools in another country, they are once again hopeless, homeless, and lost. When schools in Afghanistan were closed, they packed their belongings and left for Quetta. Now that their schools in Quetta have also been closed, where should they really go, to what tomorrow, to what geography, and to what horizon should they look? When the regime of ignorance and crime took control of the people and their fate in Afghanistan, the expectation was that the international community would try to ease the deadly restrictions imposed by the regime. But it seems that this expectation has become a false and empty dream in the current blind, dark and cruel relations. What has happened in Afghanistan and now in Pakistan is a very terrible scenario that will not only destroy the fate of hundreds of thousands of students, but will also endanger the future of the global community, civilization, justice and social security everywhere in the world. To the extent and wherever ignorance spread, the global community will be more at risk. If the seeds of discrimination, oppression and violence are ingrained by any means, by anyone and against anyone, the human race will reap it and no one will be safe from its harm and damage. It is very apprehensive that the range of immigrants and refugees, due to their absolute defenselessness, continue to be oppressed, discriminated against, excluded and denied.
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