A letter signed by a group of 19 EU member states and Norway has called on Brussels to green light the return of illegal and criminal Afghan migrants back to the Taliban-run state.
Belgian Minister for Asylum and Migration Anneleen Van Bossuyt revealed on Friday that Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Sweden have signed a letter this week backing the deportation of Afghan nationals.
The countries argued that the failure of the European Commission to negotiate a returns deal with the Islamist Taliban regime is preventing member states from deporting illegals and even convicted criminals. The letter said that this is creating a national security threat and is undermining “public confidence in asylum policy.”
“We have sent a clear and strong message to the European Commission: we cannot afford to stand still any longer. It is high time for a decisive and joint approach, so that Europe regains control over migration and security,” Minister Van Bossuyt said.
“Without comprehensive returns, every asylum and migration policy fails. The EU must send a clear message: those who are not entitled to protection or residency in Europe and, in the process, threaten our society must return,” she added.
The Belgian minister said that over half of all Afghan asylum applications are rejected, yet 2,815 Afghan nationals who should have been deported remain in reception centres. Van Bossuyt went on to note that Afghans, in particular, pose a security risk in such centres.
“In 2024, Afghans were the second most likely to have committed serious incidents in our reception centres,” she said. “We cannot continue to ignore that.”
The letter to European Commissioner for Asylum and Migration Magnus Brunner stated that across the EU 22,870 Afghans were issued with deportation orders last year. However, only 435 were actually returned to their country of origin, representing a success rate of just 2 per cent.
“The organization of voluntary and forced return to Afghanistan is a shared European challenge that requires a coherent and collective response. It is therefore essential that the European Union addresses this matter at the EU level, treating return and reintegration to Afghanistan as a joint responsibility,” the letter urged.
In lieu of Brussels striking a deal with the Taliban, which retook control of the country following the botched withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country under the Biden administration in 2021, some EU member states have taken it upon themselves to open up negotiations with the Islamist regime.
Earlier this month, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that Berlin is in a “very advanced” stage of talks with Kabul over a returns agreement, which Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged during last year’s parliamentary campaign.
So far, the Merz coalition government has only managed to conduct two deportation flights to Afghanistan, with Qatar acting as an intermediary, given that Germany does not have formal diplomatic relations with the Taliban government.
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