World News | More than 1 million Afghan refugees trapped between hostile Pakistan and Taliban: report

kabul [Afghanistan], April 7 (ANI): More than 1 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan are trapped between the Taliban and Islamabad, who are determined to keep They push into miserable lives. Afghans have been fleeing their homes for decades whenever the war-torn country has plunged into conflict, including at the height of the Cold War and a resurgent Taliban.

For years, Pakistan has been playing a game of snakes and ladders with the Afghans. According to the Afghan Diaspora Network, Afghan refugees first and foremost became an effective tool for Pakistan to exert influence in Afghanistan and advance its strategic interest in Kabul as its “strategic backyard”.

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Since the return of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, more than 600,000 Afghans have fled to Pakistan, adding nearly 4 million existing Afghan refugees, of whom only 1.32 million are registered with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR).

Writing in the Afghan Diaspora Network, Hamid Pakteen said that Pakistan, facing an economic crisis, is determined to prevent Afghans from entering the country, with hundreds of people turned away every day. Earlier, things were different.

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According to news reports, refugees have balanced Pakistan’s Afghanistan policy, making Afghans an important tool in Islamabad’s strategic planning. The refugees also help Pakistan in its fight against hostilities from Afghanistan, including on the Durand Line.

Pakistan welcomed Afghan refugees during the Soviet invasion, which in turn helped Islamabad become acquainted with Western military blocs. Afghanistan used anti-Pashtun groups in Pakistan to exert influence in Islamabad, and the Pakistani army played a game in 1975 by supplying weapons to the Panjshir province to overthrow the Afghan regime.

Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has used Cold War scenarios to create terrorist sanctuaries in refugee camps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan provinces, according to a report by the Afghan Diaspora Network. After the Soviet Union left Afghanistan, most Afghans had little interest in fighting Western troops and wanted to live in peace.

The author writes in a news report that Pakistan’s large cities, including Karachi and Peshawar, provided a home away from home, and Afghans became part of Pakistan’s urban landscape.

Islamabad even provides Afghans with easy exits to Europe and the United States. However, the situation changed after 2001 and Afghans were no longer welcome in Pakistan. Afghans are being pushed back into hell from where they fled, as Pakistan begins stricter monitoring of refugees and announces stricter detention and deportation policies.

The Taliban-appointed Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation announced that more than 2,000 Afghan refugees had returned to their countries from Iran and Pakistan in early March, Khaama Press reported.

On Saturday, the Refugee and Repatriation Department tweeted that 1,851 Afghan refugees from Iran and 331 Afghan refugees from Pakistan returned home through the Spin Boldak and Islamqala crossings, according to Khaama Press news. Of the 331 refugees, 70 were released from Pakistani prisons, according to the department. (Arnie)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)