Migration policy | Further deportations to Afghanistan planned

Germany plans to once again deport people to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The targets are young, single men whose asylum applications in Germany were rejected and who have been convicted of serious crimes. According to current plans by the authorities, the men are to be deported in a collective deportation by July 16, according to a statement from the Saxon Refugee Council (SFR). These men are currently being held in deportation detention throughout Germany, including in Dresden, Pforzheim, and Büren.

The SFR criticizes that deportation is a much harsher, "second punishment," especially if those affected have already served a prison sentence. This type of double punishment contradicts the Basic Law. The organization of deportation appears complex and the level of secrecy high, according to the SFR. Even courts apparently have no information about the deportation process. "How are they supposed to determine whether deportation is feasible if they don't receive any information?" criticizes Toni Kreischen of the Dresden Deportation Detention Contact Group, which provides voluntary counseling to people in deportation detention centers.

The SFR also fears that increased deportations to Afghanistan could also affect people who would certainly be exposed to persecution by the Taliban in the future. "We remember the deportations to Kabul a few years ago: At first, it only affected criminals, but in the end, all rejected Afghans had to fear deportation to war," says Dave Schmidtke of the SFR.

There were already two collective deportations to Afghanistan last year. Three of those currently detained are in the deportation center in Dresden. According to SFR, all three have lived in Germany for over ten years. Their asylum applications were rejected even before the Taliban took power. Some of them belong to the persecuted Hazara minority and fear persecution as opposition members, "Westernized" returnees, or Taliban critics. Since taking office, Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) has been calling for more deportations to Afghanistan. This goal is also enshrined in the coalition agreement between the SPD and CDU/CSU federal governments.

Admission programs must be fulfilled

Dobrindt also wants to suspend the federal reception programs for at-risk Afghans. However, a recent ruling by the Berlin Administrative Court ruled that Germany must at least adhere to the admission commitments it has already made. According to a legal opinion commissioned by Pro Asyl, the federal government would even be committing a criminal offense if threatened individuals, many of whom are currently awaiting asylum in Pakistan, were to be returned to the hands of the Taliban.

However, the ruling and the report have no effect on deportations from Germany, as other people are fundamentally affected. By rejecting the asylum applications of those affected, the German state assumes that they are not exposed to any persecution in Afghanistan. Women and LGBTQI+ people, on the other hand, often receive protection status due to gender-specific persecution by the Taliban.

Increase in rejections

In contrast, a massive increase in negative asylum decisions for male Afghans has been observed in recent months. Since the Taliban took power, most asylum applicants have received a so-called deportation ban, at least due to Afghanistan's economically unstable situation. According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), it is impossible for even young single men to secure their livelihood in Afghanistan. Currently, however, we are observing the application of the so-called robustness jurisprudence, which both BAMF and the courts had pursued before 2021. This jurisprudence promotes the absurd notion that Afghans who have committed crimes in Germany can be deported because they are "robust" enough to live under the Taliban if they could commit crimes here. In 2023, however, a ruling by the Higher Administrative Court of Saxony recognized that single men without a support network can be exposed to inhumane treatment in Afghanistan, which would be the basis for a deportation ban.

What will happen next for the men detained in Dresden is currently unclear. "In our view, the deportations violate the European Convention on Human Rights. We have therefore filed new asylum applications," a consultant from the Deportation Detention Contact Group said in a statement.