Germany Resumes Deportations to Afghanistan

Critics Criticize Cooperation with the Taliban

In early June, a mass deportation of men required to leave the country to Afghanistan—originally scheduled for late May—was canceled because the Taliban rulers refused to cooperate. According to dpa reports, the flight was canceled after the Islamist rulers in Kabul expressed dissatisfaction with what they viewed as a lack of willingness to engage in dialogue on the part of representatives from the Federal Foreign Office. The Taliban are primarily interested in sending more diplomats to Afghan missions in Germany.

Critics complain that while the German government does not recognize the Taliban due to their human rights violations—particularly those affecting women—it is simultaneously making practical concessions to facilitate deportations. This includes granting permission to send individual diplomats to the Afghan missions in Germany, where previously only diplomats who had been sent there by the previous government had worked.

On Friday, Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt defended an expansion of deportation practices to Afghanistan in the face of criticism. “Anyone whose asylum application has been denied and who is required to leave the country must, of course, also expect that this departure will be enforced if it is not carried out voluntarily,” said the CSU politician.