Denmark stops deporting Afghans

The Danish announcement on Thursday means that the forcible transfer of rejected Afghans will be halted until October 8, the Ritzau news agency reported. The reason is the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan.

Currently, about 40 Afghan asylum seekers in Denmark are waiting to be sent back to their home country.

Denmark is also evacuating Afghan staff locally. These are 45 people who received a residence permit in Denmark for two years, following a broad political agreement.

These are people who work at the Danish Embassy in Afghanistan, as well as people who have previously worked at the Embassy for up to two years and who have requested assistance from Denmark.

Children and people’s partners are also included in the assistance. Evacuation should start as soon as possible and be carried out gradually.

Germany calls

Germany announced that it had issued entry permits to 2,500 Afghans, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said, according to German media. These are the people who worked for Germany and the German forces in Afghanistan, as well as their families.

Maas says 1,500 of them have so far arrived in Germany.

In the past, locally employed Afghans who wished to seek sanctuary in Germany with the Taliban now progressing had to apply for visas in Afghanistan. Der Spiegel writes that they will now instead be able to undergo the visa process on site in Germany.

Risks become goals

Afghans who worked as translators for countries that took part in the international military operation in Afghanistan, which is now ending, risk becoming targets of the Taliban, whom they consider “traitors”.

Germany also decided to temporarily stop repatriating Afghan immigrants. The suspension is currently in effect until August 31. Switzerland, in connection with the deteriorating security situation, has also stopped deporting Afghans whose asylum applications have been rejected.

The French government, for its part, announced the suspension of sending Afghan migrants in July after their asylum applications were rejected due to the deteriorating security situation.

The Swedish Migration Agency introduced the so-called enforcement ban for Afghanistan on July 16.