Published June 9, 2024
The German government has declined an offer from the Taliban to repatriate Afghan migrants convicted of crimes on the grounds that it would indicate recognition of the Islamist regime.
The offer from the Taliban government follows the murder of a police officer by an Afghan national in a senseless knife attack in the southwest city of Manheim.
Following the attack last week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz initially indicated that he wanted to deport violent criminals, even to dangerous countries such as Syria and Afghanistan. “Such criminals should be deported – even if they come from Syria and Afghanistan,” Scholz told the Bundestag or lower house of parliament.
There is currently a ban on deporting migrants back to Afghanistan since the Taliban took back control of the country back in 2021.
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SOURCE: www.thegatewaypundit.com
RELATED: Taliban open to cooperating with Germany on deportations
Afghanistan’s Taliban leadership have said it is open to working with Berlin on accepting deported Afghan criminals. However, there are doubts within the government about how feasible the plan might be.
Germany’s embassy in Afghanistan was closed until further notice after the Taliban takeoverImage: Can Merey/dpa/picture-alliance
Published June 7, 2024
Afghanistan’s Taliban leadership have said it is open to working with Berlin on accepting deported Afghan criminals. However, there are doubts within the government about how feasible the plan might be.
Germany’s embassy in Afghanistan
Germany’s embassy in Afghanistan was closed until further notice after the Taliban takeoverImage: Can Merey/dpa/picture-alliance
Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban on Friday said they were open to cooperating with the German government on the return of Afghan criminals to their home country.
Berlin has said it is considering the deportations after the killing last week of a police officer by an Afghan national on the sidelines of a rally held by an anti-Islam group in the southwestern city of Mannheim.
However, Germany’s Foreign Office has expressed doubts about the plan, which is backed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.
What did the Taliban say?
The Taliban’s Foreign Ministry said such an arrangement might be possible but appeared to suggest that Germany would first need to recognize it as Afghanistan’s legitimate government. Since the armed militants took back power in Afghanistan in 2021, Berlin has refused to do so.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan calls upon the German authorities to address through normal consular engagement and an appropriate mechanism based on bilateral agreement,” Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Kahar Balchi posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Germany did send some returnees back to Afghanistan before the Taliban takeover. Before that, there was an agreement that only men — especially criminals and individuals judged to be terrorist threats — would be forced to return.
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SOURCE: www.dw.com
RELATED: Germany’s Scholz vows to step up deportations after killing of police officer
The stabbing of an officer by a suspect from Afghanistan has put the chancellor under pressure to take a tougher stance on migration ahead of the EU election.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is likely to call for increased deportations of migrants whose asylum claims have been rejected. | Pool photo by Ludovic Marin via AFP/Getty Images
Published June 5, 2024
The gruesome killing of a police officer by a 25-year-old Afghan suspect has put German Chancellor Olaf Scholz under renewed pressure to take a tougher stance on migration days ahead of a European election in which the far right is expected to make sizeable gains.
In a speech to parliamentrians on Thursday, Scholz pledged to deport migrants from Afghanistan and Syria who have committed crimes despite the fact that those countries are ruled by repressive regimes.
“It outrages me when someone who has found protection here commits the most serious crimes, Scholz said. “Such criminals should be deported, even if they come from Syria or Afghanistan.”
In such cases, Scholz added, “Germany’s interest in security outweighs the offender’s interest in protection.”
It’s not the first time Germany’s chancellor has vowed to take a tougher stance on migration. Earlier this year, the ruling coalition — consisting of Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) — passed a law intended to make it easier for authorities to deport migrants whose asylum claims have been rejected.
However, carrying out such deportations in practice, even for those convicted of serious crimes, remains difficult. Germany stopped deportations to Afghanistan in 2021 after the Taliban returned to power. Syria continues to be ruled by Bashar al-Assad, whose government has committed horrific atrocities against its own people.
