After failed deportation: Schuster wants tougher rules

After the failure of a planned deportation of three Afghans who were obliged to leave the country, Saxony's Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) has called for stricter rules for so-called asylum follow-up applications. As Schuster announced in an interview with Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), the three men were due to be deported from Leipzig/Halle airport to Kabul last Friday along with 81 other Afghans, but had gone into hiding shortly beforehand.

"We can't blame ourselves for any mistakes"

A court had previously ordered their release from custody in Saxony. This was due to applications for asylum that her lawyers had submitted a few days before the flight. "We can't accuse ourselves of any mistakes because we are abiding by the legal rules," said Schuster. However, it must be a consequence "to put a stop to the recognizable abuse of asylum follow-up applications". It is unacceptable for imminent deportation to be repeatedly blocked with insubstantial applications, even though all legal channels have been exhausted.

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees quickly assessed the applications as insubstantial. By then, however, the men had already disappeared. "The people could no longer be found. I would presumably say that this is the typical disappearance," said Schuster. One of the three has since reappeared, but two are still missing. All of their benefits were immediately withdrawn.

Schuster relies on tailwind from Berlin

Schuster said he wanted to bring the issue to the conference of interior ministers. He also called for the new federal government to increase the number of repatriation flights to Afghanistan. This would give courts more confidence in the binding nature of planned deportations. Decisions on detention pending deportation are often difficult if authorities are unable to provide specific flight dates.