Scholz announcement in the Bundestag
Deportations to Afghanistan – how is that supposed to work?
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After the murder of a police officer by an Afghan, Chancellor Scholz is calling for deportations to Afghanistan too. He doesn't explain how this is supposed to work. The Union and the Greens are skeptical – for very different reasons.
In his government statement in the Bundestag, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the prospect of deporting criminals to Syria and Afghanistan. Referring to the knife attack in Mannheim, in which a 29-year-old police officer was killed, he said: “It outrages me when someone who sought protection here with us commits the most serious crimes. Such criminals should be deported, even if they come from Syria or Afghanistan.”
Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz and CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt took up this, but also showed that they did not believe the announcements. “The time for warning and condemning, for belittling and making announcements, this time is now over,” said Merz. “People expect us to act.” Dobrindt predicted to the Chancellor that “with these Greens” he would “not be able to manage deportations to Afghanistan because they simply don't want it.”
Scholz had said that Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser was “looking for legally and practically viable ways” to enable deportations of criminals and dangerous people to Afghanistan. “The Federal Ministry is already in discussions with Afghanistan’s neighboring countries about the practical implementation.”
“It's not that easy”
Scholz did not say what these paths might look like. Merz accused the Chancellor of claiming that there were no contacts in Afghanistan. However, development aid is discussed with “technical contacts”. “Why can't 'technical contacts' be used to enable returns to Afghanistan?” he asked.
In fact, as Dobrindt announced, the Greens were skeptical in the debate. The legal position is that once you reach a certain level of punishment, you forfeit your right to reside in Germany, said Green Party leader Omid Nouripour. But it is “not that easy to deport to Afghanistan” and one should not create any illusions. It is also not true that Germany is carrying out development cooperation with Afghanistan. What there is is humanitarian aid under international supervision.
According to Nouripour, deportations to Afghanistan would require recognition of the government there – which would be a significant change of course: the majority of countries around the world, including all Western countries, do not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate Afghan government. Nouripour said recognition of the “Stone Age Islamists” in Afghanistan would be “a gigantic international tailwind for these barbarians.”
Anyone who glorifies terror should be able to be deported
Green party leader Britta Haßelmann emphasized that the coalition had already tightened some deportation regulations, “and I now expect the states to implement this.” She did not reject deportations to Afghanistan outright, but she doubted whether they were possible: “The Federal Ministry of the Interior and also the state interior ministries will have to explain how this should work.” The question is how one wants to talk about the topic of the “terrorist system” in Afghanistan. And “for which third country it should be attractive to take in terrorists or serious criminals”. She was looking forward to the answers, they wouldn't be easy.
At the same time, it became clear in the debate that the Greens are in the minority with their skepticism in the traffic lights. FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr called for the “deportation of Islamist criminals to Afghanistan and Syria must be made possible.” Those who commit Islamist crimes apparently do not need protection from Islamist regimes, he added, referring to the Taliban.
There should also be tightening measures regardless of new deportation regulations. Scholz said it should no longer be tolerated “when terrorist crimes are glorified and celebrated.” The federal government will tighten the expulsion regulations so that approval of terrorist crimes results in a serious interest in expulsion. “Anyone who glorifies terrorism goes against all of our values and should also be deported.”
