It is a new sign for the adjustment of the migration policy operated by the conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz. This Friday, July 18, the German government expelled 81 Afghas sentenced by Justice,
The robbery took off in the direction of Afghanistan with men on board “subject to an expulsion decision and have already been sentenced by criminal justice,” said the Ministry of Interior. The initiative was immediately denounced by the UN, which requested “the immediate judgment of the forced dismissal of all refugees and applicants for Afghan asylum.”
This is the second operation of this type since last summer, the first since the entrance of the coalition between conservatives and social democrats led by Friedrich Merz.
The expulsions to Afghanistan are controversial due to the return to the power of the Taliban in August 2021, the authority that the German government does not recognize and with which it does not maintain diplomatic relations.
First expulsions from Afghans sentenced in 2024
Like other European leaders, Friedrich Merz wishes to restrict the reception of asylum applicants in the context of the progression of the extreme right through the continent. This expulsion operation was announced on the day when the German government organized, in the south of the country, the interior ministers of five EU countries that wish to harden their immigration policies.
The references of Afghan criminals to their country “must be able to continue in the future. Serious crimes perpetrators have the right to remain in our country,” said German Ministry Alexander Dobrindt.
Several of the expelled Afghans had been sentenced to sexual violence, homicides, voluntary injuries, criminal fires, drug -related drugs, according to regional authorities. The previous government led by the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz expelled, on August 30, 2024, a group of 28 Afghan sentenced to crimes, the first since the return to the power of the Taliban.
The operation carried out on Friday could take place thanks to Qatar, said the Ministry of Interior. But Berlin had recently indicated to negotiate directly with the Taliban authorities. “These discussions will have to take place,” said Alexander Dobrindt on Friday. However, “there is no expansion of relations or the recognition of the regime in Kabul, he assured the head of German diplomacy Johann Wadephul.
Berlin wants expulsion to Syria
Berlin “cooperates with a terrorist regime,” punished a deputy of the Radical Left Opposition Party Die Linke, Clara Bünger. He also denounced the decision of Berlin, the High Commissioner of Human Rights, Volker Türk, emphasized that some Afghan expelled risked “being persecuted” in his country.
“Experting people to dangerous countries such as Afghanistan and demonizing refugees is the expression of an authoritarian program that unfortunately has also found their way in Germany,” said Amnesty International.
Germany also wants to be expulsion to Syria. The issue of immigration is in the heart of political debates in the country marked by an unprecedented progression of the extreme right in the legislative elections last February. “The overload of our countries by illegal migration also contributes massively to the polarization of society,” said Alexander Dobrindt against his European counterparts.
Limited family gathering
The first European economy welcomed more than one million refugees, including many Syrians and Afghans, during the migration crisis of the years 2015-2016, under the mandate of former Chancelière Angela Merkel. The governments that followed closed the page of this reception policy.
In recent weeks, Friedrich Merz’s coalition has decided to repress asylum applicants at the country’s borders and modified legislation to limit family reunification for certain refugee categories and extend access times to German nationality. But “we will not be able to solve the long -term problem that together within the European Union,” said the Foreign Minister on Friday during a press conference.
The Interior Minister said he said in a European initiative aimed at facilitating the expulsions of migrants dismissed to third countries outside the EU. “We want to create the possibility of returning migrants to neighboring countries near their country of origin” when the latter refuses to resume their nationals, he told the press.
Source: BFM TV
