News Right Now: Forcible Expulsion

As of November 1 2023, Pakistan’s caretaker government is overseeing a mass expulsion; forcing 1.7 million Afghan refugees to uproot their lives of up to nearly 50 years spent in Pakistan and return to Afghanistan immediately. The decision was taken in an apex committee meeting headed by caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul ul Haq Kakar and attended by Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, among others.

So far over 375,000 Afghan refugees have been forcibly removed from their homes. Those who haven’t already left are subject to arrest and are being forcibly sent over the border, many, even women, are being deported without their families; and almost all are without their belongings, which they’ve been forced to sell or simply leave behind. These refugees entered Pakistan when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Civilians fled to save their lives from the aerial bombardment and ground assaults instigated by Moscow, which the early Taliban defended Afghanistan from until the Russian’s total defeat and withdrawal in 1988.

Some immigrants however, entered Pakistan as recently as last year when the new Taliban government took power in Afghanistan. All the Afghan refugees regardless of how long they have lived in Pakistan are being uprooted. Even those born in Pakistan, who viewed it as their home have had no consideration and are being forced to enter Afghanistan as refugees with no belongings and no chance of continuing the type of life they were living in Pakistan. This shocking action initiated by the Pakistan government and military is one that far right European political parties constantly seek to approve, but their governments struggle to implement given the obvious humanitarian consequences of such injustice.

The toll this has taken on the Afghan refugees living in Pakistan is very real, serious and lasting. Students currently studying in schools and universities face an uncertain future whereby their studies are being interrupted and will be incomplete, given Afghanistan does not yet have the infrastructure to offer to higher education students. Likewise those with businesses or farm animals have had no choice but to abandon their animals or shops without warning if they have not already sold their commodities – leaving entire families without any security and thrust into poverty on arrival in Afghanistan’s newly set refugee camps. This sorry situation illustrates perfectly the sin of nationalism, which divides people along borders designated by imperialist colonialists, designed for their own benefit of dividing and conquering a people. The division of people around tribal and regional lines holds no meaning when there is acknowledgement of the values and natural unity between people who share a religion, culture, geographic region, natural resources, dialect and language.

Nationalism is a secular concept rooted in Capitalism. It creates evil in the world by setting people against one another based on their right to assert and generate the maximum amount of benefit for themselves, without the need to feel remorse, concern or any accountability for their actions. This mindset, within any population easily creates the atmosphere for injustice and oppression to take root, and even for bloodshed and genocide to be overlooked. Prophet Mohammed (saw) explained the evil of nationalism when he (saw) said as reported by “Jubayr ibn Mut’im reported,

«عَنْ جُبَيْرِ بْنِ مُطْعِمٍ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ لَيْسَ مِنَّا مَنْ دَعَا إِلَى عَصَبِيَّةٍ وَلَيْسَ مِنَّا مَنْ قَاتَلَ عَلَى عَصَبِيَّةٍ وَلَيْسَ مِنَّا مَنْ مَاتَ عَلَى عَصَبِيَّةٍ»‏

“He is not one of us who calls for tribalism. He is not one of us who fights for the sake of tribalism. He is not one of us who dies following the way of tribalism.” Sunan Abī Dāwūd 5121.

Allah (swt) says in the Quran...

[وَاعۡتَصِمُوۡا بِحَبۡلِ اللّٰهِ جَمِيۡعًا وَّلَا تَفَرَّقُوۡا​ وَاذۡكُرُوۡا نِعۡمَتَ اللّٰهِ عَلَيۡكُمۡ اِذۡ كُنۡتُمۡ اَعۡدَآءً فَاَ لَّفَ بَيۡنَ قُلُوۡبِكُمۡ فَاَصۡبَحۡتُمۡ بِنِعۡمَتِهٖۤ اِخۡوَانًا ۚ وَكُنۡتُمۡ عَلٰى شَفَا حُفۡرَةٍ مِّنَ النَّارِ فَاَنۡقَذَكُمۡ مِّنۡهَا ​ؕ كَذٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللّٰهُ لَـكُمۡ اٰيٰتِهٖ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَهۡتَدُوۡنَ]

“And hold fast to the Rope of Allah, all together, and be not disunited; and remember Allah’s Favour on you when you were enemies, then He united your hearts and you became brethren; and you were on the brink of a pit of fire, then He saved you from it; Allah makes clear to you His Signs that you may follow the right way.” [TMQ Al-Imran 3:103]

According to Islam the land that Muslims control is considered as one unified territory, so under the Islamic Khilafah Muslims seeking refuge or asylum in one part of the Islamic region from another, would be welcomed, and the emphasis would be on creating unity between all people by way of giving the refugees access to food, shelter and the very same amenities that the citizens there already enjoy. This would obviously strengthen the bond between people based on the shared values of brotherhood and generosity and would cause an increase in the rizq of the society, which naturally leads to progress and development - not a depletion of resources as the secular people and states fear. The example of the Ansar of Yathrib, sharing their wealth and comforts with the Muhajiroon of Makkah, is the Sunnah and a clear standard for our dealings with one another today.

Allah (swt) says in the Quran...

[وَالَّذِينَ تَبَوَّؤُوا الدَّارَ وَالإِيمَانَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ يُحِبُّونَ مَنْ هَاجَرَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَلا يَجِدُونَ فِي صُدُورِهِمْ حَاجَةً مِّمَّا أُوتُوا وَيُؤْثِرُونَ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ وَلَوْ كَانَ بِهِمْ خَصَاصَةٌ وَمَن يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفْسِهِ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ]

“They (the Ansaar) even prefer them (the Muhajir) above themselves, though poverty is their own lot. Whosoever is preserved from their own greed, such are the ones that will prosper.” [Surah Al-Hashar 59:9]

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