The Afghans are facing possibly the world's most brutal army of radical Muslims, now installed in Kabul, and armed with what US President Joe Biden said were "all the tools... and equipment of any modern military. We provided advanced weaponry," which the Taliban has captured from the disintegrating Afghan National Army.
President Biden has, in fact, bestowed "advanced weaponry," courtesy of US taxpayers, not only on the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and ISIS, but also on Russia, China and Iran, who will doubtless now reverse-engineer the abandoned materiel.
The Afghans have good reasons to flee their own country by the millions. Iran is their typical first stop.
Once in Iran, they are given easy and safe passage to Turkey -- that is Iran's gift to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Turkey is already home to nearly five million migrants. The arrival, over years, of another five million would paralyze Turkey, its economy, politics and relative safety. But Afghan migrants will not be only Turkey's problem.
In 2020, Erdoğan threatened to flood EU countries with millions of Syrians.... The real number was just a couple of thousand. Erdoğan's bluff had failed. Since then, he has not tried another Turkish government-sponsored migrant dump onto Greek territory.
If the Greek and EU border agencies do not want to relive the 2015 migrant crisis, they should review their blueprints to protect Greek territory from migrants and get ready for another inflow this year.
The first 10 years of Syria's civil war created 6.5 million asylum-seeking migrants from a population of 22 million. Afghanistan's population is 75% larger than Syria's at the start of its war. Afghans have good reasons to flee their country by the millions. Iran is their typical first stop, and from there they are given easy and safe passage to Turkey. If the Greek and EU border agencies do not want to relive the 2015 migrant crisis, they should review their blueprints to protect Greek territory from migrants and get ready for another inflow this year. Thousands of Afghans crowd the tarmac of Kabul Airport on August 16, 2021, trying to flee the country. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
Locals in Istanbul were recently shocked to see hordes of young Afghan men in worn out uniforms, strolling aimlessly down neighborhoods that were already home to thousands of Syrian refugees. Later, Turkish police detained and expelled nine of the men. Hundreds of others are communicating with their relatives and friends in Afghanistan and Iran and most likely updating them on the illegal migration routes into Turkey -- Afghans would typically pay smugglers $1,000 for the trip from Kabul to Van in eastern Turkey. With the victory of the Taliban and the collapse of the Afghan government, hundreds of thousands may be crossing via Iran into eastern Turkey, finally seeking the least dangerous (and least costly) route into European Union soil.
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