In Pakistan, an exodus that is beyond biblical

In Pakistan, an exodus that is beyond biblical

www.independent.co.uk

The exodus of people forced from their homes in Pakistan's Swat Valley and elsewhere in the country's north-west may be as high as 2.4 million, aid officials say. Around the world, only a handful of war-spoiled countries – Sudan, Iraq, Colombia – have larger numbers of internal refugees.

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This massive dislocation and flood of refugees in what is already effectively a failed state bears close scrutiny. How many are aware of the scope of the current Pakistani refugee crisis?

This is taking place in one of the most sensitive areas of the world, and a nation that is nuclear armed. The unpopular, tottering government is a shell of its former self, widely perceived as thuglike and incompetent. It exists only because it backed by the US. The ranks of both the government and the military are full to bursting with those who profess allegiance to this dying order but secretly harbor strong Islamic leanings. How much more true is this of the general populace? And how can extremism and hatred towards the heavy-handed bombing that destroyed their homes not grow among the millions of refugees? We are witnessing the seeds of what, I fear, will one day blossom into full-fledged and ugly blowback.

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