Germany presses ahead with deportations to Afghanistan
The interior ministry said the plane took off on Friday morning bound for Afghanistan, adding that all the deportees were under expulsion orders and were convicted by the criminal justice system. Germany had stopped deportations to Afghanistan and closed its embassy in Kabul following the Taliban's return to power in 2021. But expulsions resumed last year, when the previous government of Social Democrat (SPD) chancellor Olaf Scholz expelled a group of 28 Afghan convicts.
Berlin has had only indirect contact with the Taliban authorities through third parties, with Friday's operation executed with the help of Qatar, said the interior ministry. Following the announcement, the United Nations said no one should be sent back to Afghanistan, whatever their status.
The UN human rights commissioner called for an "immediate halt to the forcible return of all Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers, particularly those at risk of persecution, arbitrary detention or torture upon their return", spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva. Amnesty International directly criticised the deportations, saying the situation in Afghanistan was "catastrophic" and that "extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and torture are commonplace".
Merz defended the expulsions at a press conference, saying he was "grateful" to be able to deliver on a promise he had made when entering government. None of those deported "had a residence status anymore. All asylum applications were legally rejected without further legal recourse", he said. "This is why this deportation and this flight were possible". The deportations were among a number of "corrections" made to immigration policy by his government, including tightening border controls and limiting family reunification rights for some refugees.
Merz however said policing Germany's borders was only a "temporary" fix and a durable solution was needed at the European level. To that end, Dobrindt was meeting his Austrian, Danish, Czech, French and Polish counterparts, as well as European Commissioner for Home Affairs Magnus Brunner, in southern Germany. The aim of the meeting was to "strengthen European migration policy", Dobrindt said. — AFP
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