A comparative study of the quality of urban life between the first-and second-generation of Afghan immigrants residing in Iran : A case study of southeast of Tehran

Islamic Republic of Iran hosts the largest refugee populations in the world. According to the statistics officially announced in 2007, there are 1,025,000 refugees in Iran, among whom 940,400 refugees are Afghan and 54,400 refugees are Iraqi. After a period of settling and living in the host community, changes begin to occur in the immigrants' quality of life over time and the lives of the second generation of immigrants undergo greater changes than those of the first generation. The present study aims to explore the differences between the two groups of firstand secondgeneration of Afghan refugees living in Iran in terms of their quality of life in general and their job quality in particular. The present study has been carried out using a descriptive-analytical approach and the required data have been collected using questionnaires, interviews and field investigations by the researchers. Using Cochran's formula, the researchers randomly selected 404 refugees from the study area. In order to analyze the research variables, they used one-sample t-test, Pearson correlation test and multivariate regression analysis in SPSS. The findings revealed that job differences between the two generations of immigrants were such that the majority of the first-generation migrants were mostly engaged in nonspecialized jobs such as construction, cattle breeding, agriculture, waste purchases, and sales. However, most youths of the second generation tend to be involved in jobs such as sewing, car engine repairs, bodywork repairs and even electrical work. Therefore, the clear job differences between the two generations of Afghan immigrants are the immigrant youths' tendency toward highly specialized and freelance jobs and they are in a better position rather than the first-generation immigrants in terms of income and job security. In general, due to the great progress having occurred in the first-generation immigrants' lives, neither the first nor the second generation of Afghan immigrants tend to migrate and return to their country, although the second generation immigrants, unlike the first generation ones, tend to emigrate to European countries. K e y w o r d s: Immigration, quality of life, job satisfaction, southeast of Tehran Province University of Mohaghegh Ardabili Journal of Geography and Spatial Justice Received:2018/01/05 accepted:2018/03/05 A comparative study of the quality of urban life between the firstand secondgeneration. 34 Introduction Immigrants generally seek a safe place for living, working, economic motivation and struggling for survival are the most important causes of immigration, as confirmed by many researchers. Studies have shown that immigrants fleeing their war-torn countries usually migrate to the borders of their neighboring countries. They first get settled in the border areas and then move to cities and states where they are more likely to find jobs with better wages (Karimi Moghari, 2004: 59). Meanwhile, immigration has different effects on the immigrants' source community, the population of their target community, and their characteristics and position. Immigration can lead to population growth and reduction in the target and source communities, respectively. Moreover, capital transfer and impact on economic production capacity (through changes in the rates of activity and employment) are some economic consequences of immigration. Actually, immigration has a major impact on the characteristics of immigrants (Mahmoudian, 2007). Iran has hosted hundreds of thousands of immigrants so far due to its stable security in comparison with its surrounding countries, its economic prosperity and the availability of employment opportunities (especially after the start of oil extraction), a high degree of commonality in terms of language in comparison with its surrounding countries, and so on. Most of the immigrants who have come to Iran have been Afghan refugees, as shown by the Population and Housing Census conducted in 2011, according to which there were 1547679 immigrants in Iran, out of whom 1452513 people, the greatest number of the immigrants, were Afghans. A 900-kilometer common border of Afghanistan and Iran, the two countries' having a high degree of commonality in terms of language and religion, high job opportunities in Iran and the lack of special immigration laws in this country, insecurity and economic recession in Afghanistan, the proximity of Iran to the immigrants' hometowns and the possibility of their easy return to their hometowns have led to the massive migration of Afghans to Iran. Thus, secondary to Pakistan, Iran is the largest country having hosted Afghan refugees (Zahedi Asl and Tarzari, 2013). Afghan immigrants quickly arrived in Iran, settled in different rural and urban areas of this country and established various economic relations with the Iranian population. At first, it was thought that they would stay in Iran for a short period, but the continuing political turmoil in Afghanistan, the recession and the halt of economic growth in that country forced the immigrants to remain longer in Iran. The prolongation of their residence extended the interrelations between them and Iranian population (Ahmadi Movahed, 2003). The majority of Afghan refugees generally have low levels of literacy and lack specialized skills, and they work illegally in Iran. They have to do hard work with relatively low wages. They cannot complain about the bad conditions or long hours of work. This is why many employers prefer to employ Afghan workers rather than Iranian workers. A number of Afghan workers are involved in various activities, such as construction works, work in poultry houses, cattle-breeders, etc. They always have a fear of being repatriated from Iran and returned to Afghanistan by force. For this reason, they prefer to work in workshops outside the city centers to hide themselves from the inspectors of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security of Iran (Karimi Moughari, 2004: 60). However, after years of living in Iran, Afghan immigrants have experienced many social, economic and cultural changes as compared with when they were living in Afghanistan. Having been born in Iran, these immigrants' children have experienced even more social, economic and cultural changes in their areas than their parents have. Indeed, several decades of Afghans’ presence in Iran well justifies studying the different aspects of their lives in this country, and since immigration can have many effects on the immigrants' lives, the social and economic characteristics of Iranborn Afghans can be significantly different from those of their countrymen born in their original country as 35 Journal of Geography and Spatial Justice. Year 1th Vol . 1 Issue. 1Winter 2018 well as from the lives of the first generation of Afghan immigrants to Iran. Due to its proximity to Tehran and its high capacity of employment in the areas of agriculture, industry, construction, the use of Tehran's market, and employment and its proximity to the capital, the south, and southeast of Tehran Province has, over years, hosted Afghan refugees including the first and second generation refugees. This study aims to compare the differences in the quality of life of the first and second generation Afghan refugees from the socio-economic point of view, especially their career changes and their degree of progression, quality of life and employment with a case study of the first generation Afghan immigrants of the southeast of Tehran Province. Literature review Various studies have been carried out on different aspects of the lives of Afghan immigrants in Iran and other countries. What makes this study different from other studies is that this is a comparative study of the urban quality of life between the first and second generation of Afghan refugees residing in Iran. Among the most important studies conducted in this area are: Wickramasekare et al. (2006) studied the cultural, economic and social impacts of the presence of Afghan immigrants in Zabol city, concluding that economic poverty, cultural poverty, health poverty, and the process of the identity change of Afghan immigrants to Iran (through purchase of Iranian ID cards) are among the results of Afghans' emigration to Zabol. In his article entitled "Afghan refugees: Current status and future prospects", Margasson (2007) concluded that the presence of Afghans in Pakistan and Iran, in addition to creating security, economic, and political considerations, has increased the number of crimes and the rate of unemployment in these countries. Mahmoudian (2008) conducted a research entitled "Afghans’ immigration to Iran: Change in socioeconomic and population features corresponding with the target community", in which he concluded that as the link between immigrants and the target community increases, their similarities to the target community will increase. It also showed that there is a fundamental difference between the two generations of immigrants in Iran, so that the second generation has a better status than the first generation. In a paper entitled "The effect of Afghans’ immigration on the socio-economic situation of Kashan", Shaterian and Ganjipour (2011) concluded that the purchase of land and housing by Afghan immigrants has caused housing shortages and increased rental rates in the city of Kashan. The social impacts of the presence of Afghan immigrants include increased population of the city of Kashan, increased poverty and class differences, an increased rate of illiteracy and the crisis of collective identity due to immigrants' marriage to Iranian women. Pekkala and Kerr (2011) conducted a study entitled "Economic impacts of immigration", in which they concluded that immigration, in addition to reducing the wages, causes labor restrictions for indigenous people. On the other hand, immigration reduces the welfare level of the host country. In a paper titled "The status of Afghans in Iran