POLITIK
Flüchtlinge sind bei Afghanistans Nachbarn nicht willkommen
September 14, 2021 - Die direkten Nachbarn von Afghanistan sind besorgt, dass es in der ganzen Region zu Instabilität kommen könnte, wenn rund 3,5 Millionen im Land vertriebene Afghanen und 2,2 Millionen Flüchtlinge Zuflucht suchen.
Among Afghanistan’s wary neighbours, Pakistan is in a dilemma over accepting more Afghan refugees. Despite hosting nearly 1.5 million Afghans in 2020, Islamabad has not offered an official welcome.
Iran is almost as cautious as Pakistan of new refugees. Last year, Iran hosted 780,000 Afghan refugees. Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi plans to work on an “Iranian model” in dealing with Afghan refugees. Tehran’s strategy is to provide temporary refuge to Afghans in camps in three provinces -- Razavi Khorasan, South Khorasan and Sistan-Baluchestan -- along Iran’s eastern border with Afghanistan.
Turkmenistan has allowed its airspace for evacuation flights but has not committed to refugees, while Tajikistan has offered to accept up to 100,000 Afghan refugees.
In early September, Tajikistan’s President posthumously honoured legendary commander Ahmed Shah Massoud and former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani -- both devout enemies of the Taliban -- with the country’s highest civilian award, in a snub to the Kabul regime.
China has made no conspicuous offers of help to refugees, while India already has 15,000-18,000 refugees that fled from the Taliban more than ten years ago. Prime Minister Narendra Modi sees new terror threats ahead. In 2008, Afghan-Taliban-linked Lashkar-e-Taiba mounted coordinated shooting and bombing attacks in Mumbai, killing at least 174 people and wounding more than 300 others.
- Despite all the international attention, Afghan refugees are not welcome (Open Democracy)
- Afghanistan and its neighbours (United States Institute of Peace)
- Pakistan army completes 90% of fence along Afghan border (Associated Press)
- The Four Things India Is Watching for from Afghanistan (The Bulwark)
- Afghans have broken “shackles of slavery,” says Pak PM Imran (The Times of India)