More reports have surfaced in the international press about Iran’s continuous recruitment of Shi’a Muslim population from Afghanistan and Pakistan for a militia that’s fighting on the side of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime in Syria. As has been pointed out by the Human Rights Watch, the militia does not operate in accordance with any rules or institutional structures to ensure that these recruits are treated well. What is happening is that Shia Muslims are fleeing their homelands because of the suffering and hardship they face there but they’re ending up in situations that keep them vulnerable and reduces them into pawns of the regional power play involving Iran and Saudi Arabia among other actors. This is condemnable and needs to be taken up by the Pakistani and Afghan governments with Iranian authorities. It must also entail a clear headed opposition to Saudi and Iranian proxy wars in the region. The two governments will have to take the lead on the issue on international fronts including multilateral bodies. One of the things they must call out Iran on is its violation of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child which prohibits recruiting combatants under the age of 18. But all of this will be fruitless unless Pakistan and Afghanistan address the root cause of the problem. That has to do with the pain and suffering that accompanies the existence of Shia Muslims, particularly the Hazara community, in these countries. These communities have remained a target of Sunni extremist groups that need to be disarmed and dismantled by Afghan and Pakistan authorities. The latter have sat quietly for too long now. They need to take responsibility for their citizens. Since most recruits have clearly cited economic reasons for joining militias, it should be obvious to the home countries that if they provide security and a conducing economic environment in their countries, there will be no reason for these groups to flee in the first place. There simply is no evidence to suggest that religious or ideological reasons have any role in Shia Muslims leaving Pakistan and Afghanistan and joining militias in the troubled waters of Syria. * Published in Daily Times, October 26th 2017.