UN criticizes Germany over Afghanistan deportation plans – DW – 07/04/2025
A UN human rights agency on Friday criticized Germany's plans to deport people to Afghanistan despite Taliban rule in the Central Asian country.
It comes after German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Thursday he was open to "making agreements directly with Afghanistan to enable deportations."
In response, Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said it was "not appropriate to return people to Afghanistan," while speaking to reporters in Geneva.
"We have been documenting continuing human rights violations in Afghanistan," she said.
Arafat Jamal, who works for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Kabul, said a "non-return advisory" was still in place for Afghanistan.
"In other words... the conditions on the ground are not yet ready for returns," he said.
"We urge countries not to forcibly return to Afghanistan."
Germany stopped deportations to Afghanistan in 2021 when the Taliban retook control of the country. However, amid a rise of the far-right and anti-immigrant rhetoric, the government led by the conservative bloc of Chancellor Friedrich Merz has put deportations high on the agenda.
Dobrindt is calling for the number of refugees accepted by Germany to be well below 200,000.
Last year, almost 230,000 people made an initial application for asylum in Germany. So far this year, the official figure for the first five months is 54,000.
Germany does not recognize the Taliban government and has no official ties with it. On Friday, Russia became the first country in the world to recognize Taliban rule.
Currently Berlin only has indirect contact with the Taliban through third parties. Dobrindt said this "cannot remain a permanent solution".
Last year in August, 28 Afghan nationals who had been convicted of crimes were deported with the help of Qatar.
Dobrindt also said he was in contact with authorities for deportations to Syria, which have been paused since 2012. This comes as Austria carried out its first deportation of a Syrian back to Syria on Thursday.
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