Inside An Afghan Refugee Camp

The latest bad news is that a new batch of refugees are coming, fleeing the current chaos of southern Afghanistan. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says Iran has closed its border and Pakistan has placed tight controls at its border posts, forcing the refugees to "pay local smugglers" to cross over. The irony of Afghans first fleeing the Soviet occupation and now NATO's is not lost on Pakistan. That aside, it wants the refugees gone. If they won't go, it wants to deport them. Not only have they outlived their welcome, Pakistan is tired of being accused of harbouring the Taliban among them. It says that since most refugees, like the Taliban, are Pushtuns, it cannot know who is and is not a Talib So, take them all back, please. Pakistan is also planning to fence and/or mine parts of its 2,400-kilometre border with Afghanistan. This is in response to Western accusations that the Taliban and Al Qaeda are infiltrating into Afghanistan from Pakistan. http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/186777

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