2021-08-24
In contrast to probably the whole of western Europe and the USA, President Putin has reportedly stated his intention to deny entry to Afghan refugees as he prefers not to admit possible militants. Perhaps he learned from Russia's previous adventures in that benighted country, but whatever the reasoning, he is clearly placing the needs of his own country first and foremost.
In contrast (as noted elsewhere) other European countries seem to be falling over themselves to admit such would-be refugees, for reasons that may or may not be entirely transparent.
One may perhaps be forgiven for suspecting a link between our own government's enthusiasm for admitting Afghans, and their obvious and unending reluctance to end the flow of illegal migrants across the Channel.
Now I'm sure that there will be some perfectly good people to whom we should extend a hand of friendship due to past services to our personnel (both civilian and military) in that country, but we should bear in mind that fundamentally, what they did was primarily for Afghanistan rather than for the UK. The net should not be extended to include every possible marginal case.
