Books as Building Blocks for a New Life: An Afghan Family’s Story of Integration into Finland

In the quiet of Central Finland, some 260 kilometers from Helsinki, three children ride their bikes in a line behind their father, the rhythm of the pedals echoing in the crisp air. Their destination this time isn't the small local library – just a short walk from home – that had once fed their curiosity but had since grown too familiar. Instead, they are heading to the city library, a place where bookshelves are brimming with new adventures and untold stories.  

"Before I even got a bank card in Finland, I got a library card," Ziaulhag laughs as he recalls the memory of those early days still vivid in his mind. "My father has always stressed the importance of reading and education and how knowledge is a powerful tool”, adds Ziaulhag's daughter, Manijeh. 

For the family – father, mother, and three children under the age of seven – books were a shared passion, a constant throughout their journey. But their own path from Kabul, Afghanistan to Jyväskylä, Finland was anything like a straightforward novel. 

When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 1996, Ziaulhag and Manijeh’s family’s life became filled with danger and dread. The family fled on a perilous journey of escape, passing through Pakistan, and they eventually found themselves in Iran, where they were recognized as refugees. 

After several interviews and information sessions, Finland accepted the family for resettlement under its resettlement programme. Refugee resettlement is the transfer of refugees, who are unable to return home or stay in their first country of asylum due to safety concerns, to another state that is ready to offer them permanent solutions for protection. The refugee quota for Finland is designated each year and the country makes the decision based on, amongst others, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)´s suggestions*. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) assists Finland during selection missions and the chosen refugees through every step of the resettlement process. 

When the family arrived in Finland in April 2000, there was still snow on the ground. Ziaulhag remembers how the cold seemed to seep into his bones through his light travel clothes. They settled in Jyväskylä, a municipality in Central Finland with a population of approximately 149,000 people, where the city and various organizations supported them closely with integration into the tight-knit community.  

Like many five-year-olds, Manijeh quickly adapted to her new environment, making friends at daycare and picking up one of the world's most difficult languages, Finnish, while at play. "At home, we spoke Dari—except when Dad wasn’t around. If it was just us siblings, we always switched to Finnish," Manijeh recalls.   

There has been a growing realization of just how crucial local language skills are for successful integration into Finnish society. Today, IOM Finland organizes pre-departure orientation (PDO) for quota refugees before they arrive in Finland. The pre-departure orientation sessions include Finnish language basics, as well as information about Finnish culture, education system, job market, and public services. 

In those early days, finding work wasn’t easy for Ziaulhag. He had been an oil engineer in Afghanistan, but the skills he brought with him didn’t translate easily to his new life. "Our family joke has always been: how on earth did we end up in a country that has no oil?" Manijeh chuckles.  

Driven by his passion for reading and continuous learning, Ziaulhag’s diverse career path eventually led him to work in immigrant counseling, where his personal integration experiences and language skills became his greatest assets.

Over the years, the family has grown from three children to five. Now living in Southern Finland, they have built a vibrant local life while maintaining strong ties to Afghanistan. 

"I’ve followed the news from Afghanistan every single day for 24 years," says Ziaulhag. Manijeh has no childhood memories of Afghanistan, but she was able to visit the country ten years ago. "It was an important experience to meet my relatives, and we’re still in close contact," she says. 

The situation in Afghanistan remains dire, especially in the aftermath of the Taliban takeover in 2021, which has resulted in a new era characterized by the almost-total exclusion of half the population – women and girls – from public life. Economic challenges, hunger, the risk of malnutrition, a drastic rise in poverty, and a near-collapse of the national public health system is the everyday reality for the majority of Afghans.  

For Ziaulhag, resettlement means a literal lifeline: the possibility to live in peace. "We’ll always be grateful to UNHCR and IOM for this," he says. For Manijeh, Finland has offered opportunities she simply could not have dreamed of in Afghanistan as a woman. "I’ve had the chance to immerse myself in books, study, become a professional in social services, and live a life true to myself. I don’t know what would have happened if we had stayed," she reflects. 

Sometimes, there is no choice but to leave one’s home. Through the resettlement system, people in need of international protection are identified and given the chance to begin new chapters in their life changing stories.  

IOM’s resettlement programme in Finland is made possible with the support of the Finnish Immigration Service. This vital partnership ensures that refugees are supported throughout the resettlement process, enabling them to begin rebuilding their lives. 

*The Ministry of the Interior, together with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, prepares Finland's refugee quota allocation. The Finnish Immigration Service and the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service are also consulted. The process is based on the UNHCR's annual assessment of global resettlement needs, followed by negotiations and further discussions with the UNHCR. 

This story was written by Miina Noroila, IOM Finland’s Media and Communications Associate.