Germany and the Netherlands do an about-face. The two countries announced, Wednesday, August 11, the suspension of the expulsions of Afghan migrants to their country of origin, because of the fighting on the spot between the Taliban and pro-government forces, which are causing many civilian victims.
Alongside the Belgian, Danish, Greek and Austrian governments, Germany and the Netherlands had nevertheless asked the European Commission last week to maintain the possibility of deporting Afghan migrants, despite a call from Kabul to stop these expulsions.
In Berlin, the interior ministry finally opted for the suspension “Due to the evolution of the security situation” in the country, justified one of its spokespersons, Steve Alter, on Twitter. Since 2016, around a thousand Afghans, refused their asylum applications, have been deported by plane to their country by the German authorities, especially during the years 2018 and 2019.
“The situation in Afghanistan is likely to change and events for the coming period are so uncertain that I have decided to introduce a moratorium on decisions [d’expulsion] and departures “, said Dutch Secretary of State for Justice and Security Ankie Broekers-Knol.
“The moratorium on decisions and departures applies for a period of six months and applies to foreign nationals of Afghan nationality”, added the minister, a member of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), in a letter to the Dutch Parliament. No forced return of Afghans has taken place in the past six months, and no expulsion is expected soon, she said.
Suspension already in place in Sweden and Finland
The expulsions of Afghans were denounced in both Germany and the Netherlands by left-wing parties and associations for the defense of asylum seekers. In recent weeks, the situation in Afghanistan has changed rapidly. Galvanized by the withdrawal of foreign forces, which will have left Afghanistan for good by the end of August, after twenty years of presence, the Taliban have increased territorial gains.
They seized on Sunday most of Kunduz, a large provincial capital, in the northeast of the country. In recent days, they have taken over eight other provincial capitals, in a lightning offensive that began in May and has recently gained momentum.
The Kabul government in July called on European countries to stop deporting Afghan migrants for the next three months. Sweden and Finland had suspended removals to Afghanistan following the appeal.
Afghans made up 10.6% of asylum seekers in the European Union (EU) in 2020, or just over 44,000 of the 416,600 cases filed. This is the second contingent behind the Syrians (15.2%), according to the statistical agency Eurostat.
According to a European official, since the start of 2021, 1,200 people have been returned from the EU to Afghanistan. Among them, a thousand people were qualified as “Volunteers” at the beginning ; the other 200 were “Forced” from.