Afghanistan Oral History
Forty Years of Displacement
From Bamiyan to Quetta and Back Again
Summary
Mariam Hussaini traces four decades of displacement that began when Soviet forces destroyed her family's village in Bamiyan province in 1983. She describes the journey to Pakistan as a child, growing up in Quetta's Hazara enclave, surviving the targeted killings of Hazaras in Balochistan, and her eventual return to Afghanistan in 2005 — only to be displaced again after the Taliban's return in 2021. Her testimony captures the cyclical nature of conflict and displacement that has defined the Afghan experience across generations.
Full Transcript
Hamid Fidel
Mariam jan, your story spans four decades and multiple displacements. Where do you want to begin?
Mariam Hussaini
Begin at the beginning — 1983. I was six years old. The Soviets came to our valley with helicopters. My father grabbed me and my brother. My mother took the baby. We ran into the mountains with nothing. I remember looking back and seeing our house burning. My grandmother stayed behind. She said she was too old to run. We never saw her again.
Hamid Fidel
How did your family make it to Pakistan?
Mariam Hussaini
We walked. For weeks. Through mountain passes in winter. My mother's feet were bleeding, frozen. Other families joined us — it became a caravan of the displaced. Some people died on the way, from cold, from injuries. A baby was born during the crossing and died the same night. When we finally reached Quetta, we thought: finally, safety. But safety is a luxury Hazaras are never given for long.
Hamid Fidel
What was life like in Quetta?
Mariam Hussaini
We lived in Brewary Road area, which became a Hazara neighborhood. I grew up there, went to school there, became a teacher there. But by the 2000s, the killings started. Hazaras being pulled off buses and shot. Bombings in our markets. My cousin was killed in the Alamdar Road bombing in 2013. Over 80 Hazaras died that day. Even in exile, death found us.
Hamid Fidel
You returned to Afghanistan in 2005. What drew you back?
Mariam Hussaini
Hope. That simple and that foolish. The new government, the international presence — it felt like Afghanistan might finally have a chance. I came back to Bamiyan and started teaching girls. For fifteen years I taught. I watched my students grow, go to university, become professionals. Then August 2021 happened and everything collapsed again. I am now in my sixties, displaced for the third time, living in a rented room in Kabul, and I ask myself — will this cycle ever end?