How Afghan Refugees Have Become Bashar Al Assad's Cheap Cannon Fodder

Syria dictator Bashar al Assad often points on his enemies, claiming that all the rebels who fight against him are "foreign mercenaries" from Saudi Arabia, Jordan or Qatar. 

But at the same time, a lot of foreign mercenaries fight for Assad himself. One group of them are the Hazara, an Afghan Shiite minority. Hundreds of thousands of them live in Iran as refugees. They face discrimination, abuse and exploitation on a daily basis.

Since the Iranian government is one of Assad's main backers, it does everything to save his regime. For that reason, thousands of Hazara have been sent to Syria to fight on the dictator's side. 

In fact, after they have been recruited by the infamous Revolutionary Guards, they have a choice: Fight for Assad or leave Iran. 

Iran denies that, claiming that the Afghans go to Syria for religious and patriotic reasons. 

However, a lot of Hazara have already fled from Iran because of the recruitment. I myself have met a couple of them in Germany. They told me horrible stories about their relatives and friends who have been killed in Syria — and that the Iranian government is wasting their lives because Afghans are considered as "cheap cannon fodder".