Pakistan Speeds Up Refugee Expulsion, Not a Peacetime Precedent
Pakistan’s move to forcibly return Afghan refugees, as Al Jazeera details, mirrors an unsettling trend where human suffering becomes a geopolitical chess piece. While framed as a reaction to 'tensions,' this is a classic tactic. One might recall how similar 'tensions' or domestic pressures often lead to nativist policies globally, conveniently overlooking the decades of regional instability the
West—and by extension, its allies—helped create. The crisis in Afghanistan, which generated these refugees, didn't just appear; it was meticulously engineered by decades of foreign intervention. So, Pakistan shipping off Afghans isn't just about the Taliban; it's about a playbook written by nations that fund their own borders while funding wars that displace millions. The real story isn't just
about Islamabad's immediate concerns, but the cyclical abandonment of those caught between global powers, a pattern established repeatedly from post-colonial 'border issues' to today's 'migration crises.'