Faeser considers lifting the deportation freeze for Afghan threats - Greens against it

In the traffic light coalition, a dispute breaks out about how to deal with criminals and threat makers from Afghanistan, who have not had to fear deportation to their home country for a long time. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) is examining a departure from this line, which has met with opposition from the Greens.

"For people who pose a potential threat to public safety in Germany, deportations must be particularly encouraged," WELT learned from security circles. "Therefore, options are also being intensively examined as to how criminal offenders and dangerous persons can be deported to Afghanistan again." This requires reaching an agreement with Afghanistan on the readmission of persons and corresponding modalities such as identification, the issuance of documents and the specific to agree repatriation procedures.

In addition, the protection of the escorts and the aircraft crews must be guaranteed. "Given the extraordinarily difficult security situation and the fact that there is no internationally recognized government in Afghanistan, there are difficult questions to be answered," it said. "The Federal Ministry of the Interior is working with the Foreign Office to clarify these questions as quickly as possible." The "Bild am Sonntag" reported on this first.

The initiative is supported by the SPD and FDP. "A solution is needed, especially to regulate serious and security-threatening cases," said SPD parliamentary group Vice Dirk Wiese WELT. "It is right and important that the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Foreign Office are in contact with one another." Necessary prerequisites are a stable security situation, guarantees for safe returns and sustainable relationships with the political contacts there. "Due to the political situation with the Taliban regime, deportations to Afghanistan are currently extremely difficult, both legally and practically."

Stephan Thomae, parliamentary director of the FDP parliamentary group, said: "If people from abroad do not comply with our legal system, but commit criminal offenses and thus endanger our internal security, they must leave our country." It is therefore right to check whether Criminals and dangerous people can be deported to Afghanistan. "However, the basis for possible returns to Afghanistan is always an individual assessment in accordance with the situation report of the Federal Foreign Office." If the report comes to the conclusion that the security situation on site makes deportations possible and that they can also be carried out organizationally, they would have to be implemented consistently .

Green migration expert Filiz Polat counters: "All deportations to Afghanistan have rightly been suspended since 2021, since Afghans are at risk of serious human rights violations when they return." Germany currently has no diplomatic relations with the de facto government of the Taliban and cannot guarantee the safety of the deported people. "I am not aware of any new assessment by the Federal Government of the human rights situation in Afghanistan and therefore do not allow for a new assessment of the deportation freeze."

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Source: WORLD

Union and AfD, on the other hand, are pushing for action. The CDU domestic politician Alexander Throm accused Faeser of having "always remained inactive" on this topic. "We have repeatedly asked Ms. Faeser to deport criminals and Islamist threats to Afghanistan. I last wrote to Ms. Faeser to do this in February. I did not receive an answer from the Federal Minister of the Interior," said Throm WELT. The population no longer understands that, for example, the convicted Afghan rapist of a 14-year-old girl from Illerkirchberg cannot be deported.

Should Faeser actually want to deport criminals and threats to Afghanistan again, she would have to come to an agreement with Baerbock. "Only a few days ago, the Foreign Office wrote to me that resuming deportations to Afghanistan is not an option there," said the CDU politician. “Everything looks as if the federal government is blocked, as is so often the case with the issue of returns to Afghanistan. The dispute within the traffic light is increasingly becoming a security issue for our country.”

AfD faction leader Alice Weidel said that timely deportation saves lives. The fact that the federal government now wants to review its course falls into the “too little, too late” category. It shows that the interior minister treats this danger as a stepmother. A first important step would be to prevent the influx of further threats by "sealing" the German borders against illegal immigration.

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