Germany suspends deportation of Afghan refugees

BERLIN (Agencies): German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has ordered the temporary suspension of the forced expulsion of Afghan refugees due to the situation in Afghanistan , said Interior Ministry spokesman Steve Alter.
The Netherlands made a similar decision earlier Wednesday .
“The Federal Minister of the Interior, taking into account the evolving security situation, has decided to temporarily suspend the deportation (of refugees) to Afghanistan,” Alter wrote on Twitter .
This decision became known shortly after Alter announced at a briefing on Wednesday that the expulsion of Afghan refugees denied asylum by the German authorities is still possible, but decisions will be made on an individual basis, including taking into account the situation in Afghanistan.
The issue of forced ex-pulsion of Afghan refugees who are not entitled to asylum is actively discussed in the European Union and Germany against the background of the onset of the radical Taliban movement in Afghanistan after the start of the withdrawal of the international coalition troops. Six countries of the European Union called on the European Commission not to stop the deportation of Afghan citizens who did not receive the right to stay in the EU, even despite the onset of the Taliban movement.
Sami Mahdi, Belgium’s Secretary of State for Migration and Asylum, said that in addition to him, representatives of Germany, Austria , the Netherlands, Denmark and Greece signed an appeal to the European Commission . He stressed that the fact that some regions in Afghanistan are unsafe “does not mean that every citizen of the state has the right to protection.”
AP adds: Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in northern Afghanistan to escape battles that have overwhelmed their towns and villages as government forces try to fend off rapidly advancing Taliban forces.
Families have flowed into the capital, Kabul, living in parks and streets with little food or water.
Families described on Tuesday bombardment, gu-nfire and airstrikes pounding their neighborhoods in multiple parts of the north, with civilians caught in the crossfire.
Some said that as the Taliban captured towns, they hunted down and killed male relatives of members of the police forces and quickly started imposing new restrictions on women.
Such atrocities have fueled alarm over a potential Taliban takeover of Afghanistan as the insurgents accelerate their adva-nce capturing main cities for the first time in recent weeks.
But some of those who fled were equally furious at the government.
Fawzia Karimi fled to Kabul from Kunduz, one of Afghanistan’s largest cities, where the Taliban have been advancing through neighborhoods. She said government forces didn’t fight when the insurgents overran her district, but were bombing the residential area now that it was in Taliban hands.
“If the government cannot do anything, it should just stop the bombardment and let the Taliban rule,” she said. She left with her five children when an airstrike hit her neighbor’s home. Her 16-year-old son was killed in a crossfire three months ago.