Photo: Sebastian Gollnow/dpa

Germany Weighs Deporting ‘Criminals’ to Afghanistan Via Third Countries

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Germany has initiated talks with third countries to explore ways to deport “violent criminals” back to Afghanistan without engaging directly with the Taliban.

As reported by German Deutsche Welle (DW), Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has said that Germany is engaged in confidential negotiations with various countries to resume deportations to Afghanistan.

“We are pursuing confidential negotiations with various states to open ways to make deportations to Afghanistan again,” the German Interior Minister said.

“We are working hard to ensure that we can once again deport dangerous Islamists and violent criminals to Afghanistan,” she added. “German security interests clearly come first,” she emphasized.

The German Interior Minister has not specified which countries they are negotiating with to deport Afghan refugees who have committed crimes. However, the German magazine Der Spiegel previously reported that Germany is in talks with Uzbekistan to facilitate the plan.

“A delegation from the interior ministry travelled to the Uzbek capital Tashkent in late May for this purpose,” the magazine stated.

“The delegation suggested to the Uzbek government that Afghan deportation candidates should be brought to Tashkent. From there they could be transported to Kabul via private airline Kam Air,” it added.

Deportations of Afghan immigrants from Germany have been completely halted since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021. However, following recent deadly attacks by Afghan immigrants on German citizens, the debate over resuming expulsions has resurfaced in the country.

On May 31, a young man originally from Afghanistan attacked a gathering of “Pax Europa,” a far-right group opposing Islam in Europe, with a knife. Seven people, including police officers, were injured, and the police officer later succumbed to his injuries.

The attacker, identified as Sulaiman Ataee, was a 25-year-old man born in Afghanistan and a resident of Heppenheim. He had been living in Germany since the age of 15.

Earlier this month, the German police reported the arrest of another young Afghan immigrant on charges of attacking and injuring a Ukrainian woman with a knife in Frankfurt, Germany.

However, just days ago, Taliban authorities called on Germany to protect the rights of Afghan immigrants and prevent their deportation to third countries.

The Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs has urged Germany to resolve the issue “through normal consular engagement and an appropriate mechanism based on bilateral agreements.”

Germany’s decision to resume deportations of Afghan immigrants has also faced criticism from the country’s senior officials.

Earlier this month, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that deportations to Afghanistan “cannot avoid key constitutional and, above all, security issues.”

“How can we cooperate with an Islamist terror regime with which we do not have any relations at all? And how can we prevent the next terrorist attack subsequently being planned from there?” She questioned.

“Not least, we owe it to the victims to ensure that the perpetrators serve their punishment in prison and that murderers are not released into freedom in Afghanistan,” she emphasized.