Germany says it has begun deporting convicted Afghan offenders back to their native country, just days before German regional elections in which migration is a major campaign theme.
After the Taliban gained power in 2021, Berlin stopped returning people to Afghanistan because of concern for human rights.
However, following a deadly stabbing at a municipal fair a week ago that was connected to the Islamic State and another knife assault in June that claimed the life of a German police officer, pressure has mounted on the coalition government to lift that prohibition.
Aware of the elections taking place on Sunday in the eastern states of Saxony and Thuringia, the government on Thursday unveiled a series of measures aimed at strengthening its refugee policy and expediting deportations.
Meanwhile, Vice Chancellor, Robert Habeck told newsmen that the right to asylum in Germany must remain untouched.
In a statement, the government thanked “key regional partners” for their support and said it was working on more deportations. It did not name the partners.
Negotiating directly with the Taliban, some of whose officials are under international sanctions, is problematic.
ProAsyl, a German NGO providing legal and practical assistance to asylum seekers, said Friday’s deportation could become part of an irresponsible normalisation of the Taliban regime.
A German foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday the government would not normalise relations with the Taliban and the deportation was not a step to doing so.
In addition to Afghanistan, Berlin is also working on deporting individuals who have committed serious crimes or are deemed terrorist threats to Syria.
Deportations to Syria have also been banned in Germany but in July, a court in the western city of Muenster ruled that it no longer saw any general danger of civil war for asylum seekers from Syria.
The number of asylum seekers in Germany dropped 19.7% in the first seven months of 2024 compared to the previous year to 140,783 applications, with the largest groups of applicants coming from Syria, 44,191 applications, and Afghanistan, 22,698 applications.
