Germany resumes expulsions of failed asylum seekers to war-torn Afghanistan

Eight Afghans expelled from Germany arrived in Kabul on Wednesday as Berlin resumed deportations of rejected asylum seekers from the war-torn country months after suspending the process when a huge truck bomb hit the Afghan capital.


Germany put the controversial expulsions on hold after a sewage tanker packed with explosives detonated near the German embassy in Kabul's diplomatic quarter on May 31, killing around 150 people and wounding hundreds more.

The latest group represented the sixth wave of repatriations of Afghans from Germany since December under a disputed Afghan-European Union deal aimed at curbing the influx of migrants.

In Berlin, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere defended the latest deportation, saying that "all eight persons have been convicted of serious crimes", without specifying the offences. De Maiziere said that Germany would stick with its policy of returning to Afghanistan convicted criminals, people feared by police to be planning an attack, and those who refuse to cooperate with authorities or give their names.

After arriving at Kabul airport on a charter flight, the eight deportees were escorted by police to a car park where an official registered their names. Some of the men carried small backpacks while others had no luggage at all.

Afghan asylum-seekers have been suffering from deportations to their home country in Germany. Germany has increasingly sending back Afghans, arguing that much of their country, where the German military has helped stabilization efforts for years, is safe. The German government decision, which led to some controversy, placed parts of Afghanistan on the list of safe countries of origin, allowing the deportation of thousands of Afghan asylum seekers.
 [dailysabah.com]
14/9/17