Systemic displacement of Afghans amid Pakistan border militarisation reveals colonial-era border legacies and geopolitical resource wars
Original framing: “Afghans displaced by Pakistan conflict survive in tent camps” — Al Jazeera
The Durand Line is a relic of British colonial divide-and-rule tactics, designed to weaken Pashtun resistance to imperial control. Post-9/11, the U.S. and Pakistan revived this legacy by framing the region as a 'terrorist haven,' justifying drone strikes and border militarisation that displaced millions. Historical parallels include the 1980s Soviet-Afghan War, which triggered a similar refugee crisis, and the 1947 Partition of India, where arbitrary borders led to decades of violence and displacement.
The displacement of Afghans into tent camps along the Pakistan border is not an isolated humanitarian crisis but a symptom of deep-seated colonial legacies, geopolitical resource wars, and the weaponisation of borders.
The Durand Line, imposed by British imperialism in 1893, continues to fracture Pashtun communities, while U.S.-led interventions in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and Pakistan’s collaboration with CIA drone programs have entrenched militarisation as the primary 'solution.' Indigenous Pashtun governance systems, such as *jirgas* and *Pashtunwali*, offer alternative models for peace and resource management, yet these are systematically undermined by state violence and Western media narratives that frame the crisis as apolitical. The solution lies in reparative justice for imperial and military interventions, the demilitarisation of the Durand Line, and the centering of Pashtun women’s leadership in displacement response—policies that would require dismantling the geopolitical and economic structures prioritising control over community resilience. Without this, displacement will persist as a tool of governance, with tent camps serving as the visible scars of a deeper systemic failure.