Following Turkey, Pakistan should also refuse influx of Afghan Refugees

The United States has asked Pakistan and Turkey to open doors for the entry of Afghan refugees. Interestingly, Turkey has already refused to be part of this plan. Now the Government of Pakistan has to express its consent to be part of this plan. The popular demand is that following Turkey Pakistan also should not allow influx of Afghan refugees.

The United States wants Pakistan to keep its borders with Afghanistan open for Afghan refugees. The super power taking a retreat from Afghanistan believes that two countries, Iran and Pakistan can play a pivotal role in the resettlement plan.

Since the United States does not have diplomatic relations with Iran, US policy makers look at Pakistan to help them in transferring of refugees to Turkey via Iran.

They are using a strange argument “If people go north or if they go via Iran to Turkey, they have an opportunity both to enter the country as well as to register with either the government or with UNHCR.”

The US State Department asked Turkey to allow Afghans to stay in the country for up to 14 months before they are resettled in the United States.

The Turkish government has refused to follow the US plan to use third countries to resettle Afghans, saying the move would cause a “great migration crisis” in the region.

Reportedly, Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf said at a briefing in Washington that arrangements should be made to keep displaced Afghans inside their country instead of pushing them into Pakistan. Adding, “Pakistan does not have the capacity to take more refugees.”

Moeed has also been fully supported by Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed saying, “We have decided not to open our border for refugees; the aid agencies can help the needy on the other side too.”

It is on record that since 1979, Pakistan has been hosting millions of Afghans and more than three million are permanently settled in the country.

Some critics say, “Influx of Afghan refugees into Pakistan has ushered ‘arms and drugs’ culture, religious extremism and sectarian killing. It may be true that most of the Afghans taking refuge in Pakistan are law abiding, but terrorist, under the disguise of refugees, have created safe sanctuaries and use residents of the areas as human shield.”

Turkey refuses to shoulder Afghan migration

Foreign Ministry of Turkey has called the United States “irresponsible” after the Biden administration announced it would expand efforts to assist at-risk Afghan citizens with the major caveat that the adjudication process would take months in a third country.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgic said Wednesday the US statement had suggested Turkey as an application spot “without consultation.” He said Turkey does not have the capacity to shoulder another migration crisis.

“The US may directly transport these people by plane. Turkey will not take over the international responsibilities of third countries,” Bilgic said and added Turkey would not allow its laws to be abused by other countries. He said the US announcement would trigger a major refugee crisis.

Turkey is already hosting some 3.7 million Syrians who fled the civil war there. Afghans have also fled to Turkey to escape their country’s war and instability. Media reports from border towns with Iran show the number of Afghans crossing into Turkey is on the rise.

The State Department had said it was widening the scope of Afghans eligible for refugee status in United States to include current and former employees of US-based news organizations, US-based aid and development agencies and other relief groups that receive US funding. Current and former employees of the US government and the NATO military operation who don’t meet the criteria for a dedicated program for such workers are also covered.

But applicants must leave Afghanistan to begin the adjudication process that may take 12-14 months in a third country, and the US does not intend to support their departures or stays there.

Ebrahim Raisi faces five contentious issues

Ebrahim Raisi is scheduled to take oath in Majlis (Parliament) as 8^th President of Islamic Republic of Iran on 5^th August 2021. About 115 officials from 73 countries have been invited to the ceremony. 

The former Chief Justice, who won the 18^th June presidential election, has been authorized by Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution. Earlier, the Guardian Council, which oversees elections, had sent his credentials to the Office of the Leader.

Raisi says his top priorities are resolving budget deficit, stabilizing the capital market, controlling inflation, fighting the coronavirus pandemic, addressing the issue of water scarcity, and increasing production of electricity. 

The five contentious issues facing Raisi are:

Fixing the economy 

The top priority is to revive the economy hit hard by sanctions since former US president Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, the damage later compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic. Iran has lost billions of dollars of crucial oil revenues, as it remained out of the international financial system. If the sanctions are lifted, Iran can witness stabilization of the macroeconomic environment, with an acceleration of growth and a fall in inflation. But the new president will still have to manage public expectations because one of the risks is that people think that everything will improve immediately and they may be disappointed, if situation does not improve.  

Improving foreign relations

If a compromise on the nuclear issue is reached, it will probably not allow Western investors to return to the Iranian market in the short term. Diplomatic normalization between Tehran and Washington seems to be an indispensable condition. The new president will have to find a new way to ensure a minimum of improvement in the economic living conditions of the population by managing the level of hostility with the Joe Biden administration. Raisi wants to prioritize relations with countries geographically close to Iran, which have been on friendly terms with China. Tensions with the West are likely to continue to simmer, but the process of diplomatic normalization with Saudi Arabia may persist.

Overcoming Covid-19 

When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, Iran quickly became the region's worst-hit country. The official figures were believed to underestimate the real toll, some three million people have been infected and more than 81,000 died. Iran has fallen behind in its vaccination campaign, partly because of US sanctions. An easing of sanctions, as well as the possible short-term release of one or more Iranian-designed vaccines, could help the effort.    

Regaining the people's trust

Iran's isolation and economic pain, as well as repression of two waves of protests, in the winter of 2017-2018 and in November 2019, have left their mark. Iranians were also dismayed by the January 2020 downing of a Ukrainian airliner by Iran's military amid high tensions with the United States. The crisis of confidence can be termed deep and widespread. 

Tackling environmental problems 

Ecological issues may be Iran's forgotten priority, but they loom large in the country of 83 million threatened by climate change, water shortages, desertification and urban air pollution. The environmental crisis in Iran is a reality, but so far the government has not been able to put in place a comprehensive policy. Environmental issues were not discussed in three televised pre-election debates. Water resources have depleted due to destruction of natural resources caused by unsustainable agricultural and industrial practices. Unfortunately, it takes only two rains to completely forget about it.  

Lebanon marks first anniversary of horrific blast at Beirut port

According to an AP report, private businesses and government offices remained closed on Wednesday, 4^th August 2021 in Lebanon to mark first anniversary of the horrific explosion at the port of Beirut with a national day of mourning.

The grim anniversary comes amid an unprecedented economic and financial meltdown, and a political stalemate that has kept the country without a functioning government for a full year.

United in grief and anger, families of the victims and other Lebanese were planning prayers and protests later in the day.

The explosion killing at least 214 people has been termed one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in the history. The explosion tore through the city with such force it caused a tremor across the entire country that was heard and felt as far away as the Mediterranean island of Cyprus more than 200 kilometers (180 miles) away.

It soon emerged in documents that the highly combustible nitrates had been haphazardly stored at a port warehouse alongside other flammable material since 2014, and that multiple high-level officials over the years knew of its presence and did nothing.

A year later, there has been no accountability and the investigation has yet to find replies to questions such as who ordered the shipment of the chemicals and why officials ignored repeated internal warnings of their danger.

Families of the victims planned a memorial and prayers at the still wrecked site of the blast at Beirut port later in the day. Mass protests are also expected. A huge metal gavel with the words “Act for Justice” has been placed on a wall opposite the port with its shredded grain silos, near the words “My government did this” scrawled in black.

Flags flew at half-staff over government institutions and embassies and even medical labs and COVID-19 vaccination centers were closed to mark the day. Reflecting the sever anger at the country’s ruling class, posters assailing authorities have been hung on the facade of defaced buildings across from the port.

“Here starts your end and our beginning,” read one poster that took up the space of five floors of a high-rise. “Hostages of a murderous state,” read another.

In an extensive investigative report about the blast, Human Rights Watch on Tuesday called for an international probe into the port blast, accusing Lebanese authorities of trying to thwart the investigation.

HRW said a lack of judicial independence, constitution-imposed immunity for high-level officials and a range of procedural and systemic flaws in the domestic investigation rendered it “incapable of credibly delivering justice.”

“Since the 1960s we have not seen an official behind bars,” said Pierre Gemayel, whose brother Yakoub was killed in his apartment in the explosion last year.

Taking part in a small protest outside the justice palace Wednesday, he said the refusal by the political class to lift immunity from senior officials accused of negligence that led to the blast is “proof of their collusion, and that their hands are tainted with blood.”

The explosion — which destroyed and damaged thousands of homes and businesses — and the lack of accountability, have added to tensions and anguish in a country reeling from multiple crises, including an economic unraveling so severe it has been described by the World Bank as one of the worst in the last 150 years.

The crisis has led to a dramatic currency crash and hyperinflation, plunging more than half the country’s population below the poverty line.

At the Vatican, Pope Francis recalled the suffering of the Lebanese people, as he held his first weekly audience with the public since surgery a month ago.

“A year after the terrible explosion in the port of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, that caused death and destruction, my thoughts go to that dear country, above all to the victims, to their families, to the many injured and all those who lost home and work,” the pontiff said.

“And so many lost the illusion of living,” he added.