The Daily Hustle is our series of first-person accounts by one Afghan about one aspect of their daily life, as they adjust to Taliban rule. In this episode, we hear from a woman who, though born and raised in Pakistan, was forced to leave. As part of the wave of mass deportations and expulsions, she suddenly found herself in Afghanistan – a country she had never lived in, but was now expected to call home. Roxanna Shapour reads her account of this traumatic move and her struggles to settle in Afghanistan, including how she could prove her identity.

Shownotes: Roxanna Shapour reads a story based on an interview by Nur Khan Himmat, which was published in May 2025. You can read the full story here: The Daily Hustle: How to get a national ID card in Afghanistan if you’re a Kuchi.

You can read more personal stories in The Daily Hustle on our website, such as the story of a girl who was so appalled by madrasa education, she persuaded her family to set one up just for girls, or the labourer and his wife taking in a poor widow and her family and the girl who goes on a picnic. For analysis of the expulsion of Afghans from Pakistan, please take a look at this story from June 2025: The Second Phase of Forced Returns from Pakistan: Afghans tell stories of hardship and misery. For more on the deepening discrimination against women and girls, check out our Dossier of Reports on Afghan Women.

Photo: Afghan refugees arrive from Pakistan in Spin Boldak, Kandahar province, by Sanaullah Seiam/AFP, 3 December 2023

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