PAK-AFGHAN tensions are simmering. Talks in Istanbul this weekend focused on improved alignment and coordination for counterterrorism. Also hanging in the balance is the fate of over two million Afghans facing expedited expulsion from Pakistan. This is a fresh trauma for this community, layered upon Afghanistan’s near-perpetual state of conflict, the persistent militant threat, insecurity on both sides of the border and the erasure of women from public life. Many people facing deportation have only known Pakistan as home. However, in the current geopolitical context, they are recast as Afghans who enable cross-border militancy in Pakistan. But those being cast out of the 54 Afghan refugee villages that Pakistan decided to close this month fear they will be unwelcome and perceived with suspicion in Afghanistan.

This terrible predicament of un-belonging, displacement, impoverishment, trauma, muddled identities and uncertain citizenship is compounded by valid fears of harm, which could stem from multiple actors: security forces on both sides; resentful compatriots in Pakistan; insecure foot soldiers of the Afghan Taliban as well as anti-Pakistan militant groups.

The dilemma Pakistan’s Afghan population faces is difficult to comprehend. But this is why art........

© Dawn