Afghan Refugees and Struggles Mirror

iran: This is very hard for all of us, but when we play a song, we become the person that we want to be, bassist Mohammad Rezai said, according to Vancouver Courier. Iran is home to one of the world's largest and most-protracted refugee crises. The four rockers that make up the band, known as Arikayn, are Afghan refugees, and their struggles mirror those of millions of other Afghans who have fled to Iran during decades of war.article continues below Trending Stories Moving out Vancouver families leave city for better housing options Amanda Tapping on coping with miscarriage Downtown Eastside crack kits working, says health chief Playland increases hours for summertime fun in Vancouver They once had to sneak through a Taliban checkpoint to pay a gig in their home country, and they face discrimination in Iran, but they say that hasn't stopped them from playing the music they love. More than 3 million Afghans, including over 1 million who entered without legal permission, live in the Islamic Republic, according to United Nations estimates. The occupation ended in 1989, giving way to years of civil war and ultimately a Taliban-controlled government. Afghan refugees began arriving in Iran in 1978, following their country's Communist military coup and the subsequent Soviet occupation. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.