Blaming the Refugee: Over 1,700,000 Muslim refugees, surpassing the number of Palestinians displaced by Zionist Israel in 1948, are currently being expelled from Pakistan. The caretaker government, compliant in this expulsion, aims to remove all undocumented Afghans from the country. Shockingly, even those Afghans possessing legal documents are slated for expulsion, as declared by the Balochistan caretaker information minister. This heartless action involves giving refugees a mere 30 days to sell their possessions, restricting cash carry to Rs50,000 per family, and prohibiting the transportation of livestock.
Upon crossing the Torkham border, these displaced individuals face a bleak fate, many having never set foot in the famine-stricken land they supposedly belong to. Born on Pakistani soil, hundreds of thousands lack proper documentation. After enduring extortion by Pakistani border guards, they enter a country ruled by a primitive, murderous, and misogynistic militia opposed to modernity.
In 1996, Pakistan was the first to recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s lawful government, despite their heinous crimes. The strategic depth doctrine’s failure is now leading to the victimization of Afghan refugees. After the fall of the Ashraf Ghani government in 2021, the Taliban’s force of fanaticism has grown, and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) now targets Pakistan’s army and police daily.
To cover up past incompetence and complicity, refugees are unjustly scapegoated. Victims of Pakistan’s misguided foreign policy and pursuit of strategic depth, they are now deemed expendable as cannon fodder. To destroy the TTP’s terrorism, Pakistan must address the roots of ideological extremism, including examining madrasahs preaching violence.
The sudden deportations, supposedly defending Pakistan’s ideological frontiers, inadvertently erode the Islamic premise upon which the country was founded. The contradictions within a state based on religious identity are starkly exposed by the Afghan refugee issue. While mass deportation is widely condemned, a thoughtful approach is needed, respecting human rights and dignity. Afghans born in Pakistan should be declared citizens with equal rights, simplifying the documentation process. Individuals at high risk should be granted asylum, and the rights of girls and women must be safeguarded. Anything less is unacceptable.
