Joint European tightening for the deportation of migrants and combating illegal immigration
Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner announced his intention to continue deportation operations to Syria during his participation in a meeting with several of his European counterparts and the EU Commissioner for Migration, Magnus Brunner, at the Zugspitze summit in Germany. The aim of the meeting was to emphasize monitoring migration and intensifying deportation operations. Karner welcomed the launch of the first deportation flight from Germany to Afghanistan in about a year, considering that Europe has begun to adopt a stricter and firmer approach to this issue, stressing the necessity of deporting criminals and individuals who pose a threat to public safety.
Carter emphasized the importance of cooperation with German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt to enhance a strict and fair asylum policy at the European level. Dobrindt announced a joint European initiative to facilitate the deportation of rejected asylum seekers to their home countries, noting that the refusal of some countries to accept their citizens poses a significant obstacle. He stressed the need to accommodate deportees in areas close to their homelands where their relatives often reside. The meeting also addressed tightening control over the internal borders of the European Union, a step welcomed by Austria while Poland expressed reservations despite implementing similar measures.
The meeting was attended by the interior ministers from France (Bruno Retailleau), Poland (Tomasz Siemoniak), the Czech Republic (Vít Rakušan), and Denmark (Kaare Dybvad Bek), along with Brunner, Carter, and Dobrindt. European Commissioner for Migration Brunner described the new German approach as positive, considering it a shift in European migration policy. He confirmed that the European Union seeks to enhance the protection of external borders and improve deportation mechanisms and cooperation with third countries by signing deportation agreements that include trade and investment cooperation and visa policy. Brunner hinted that the EU may take a tougher stance with non-cooperating countries.
Carter reiterated the necessity of protecting the external borders of the European Union and implementing strict deportation operations, emphasizing the importance of European alliances to combat illegal immigration. Austria recently resumed official deportations to Syria after a halt of about 15 years. In a notable development, the first deportation flight to Afghanistan under the new coalition government took off from Germany, carrying 81 Afghans, all of whom were men convicted of very serious crimes. Dobrindt confirmed that these deportations enjoy broad public support in Germany. The last similar deportation flight took place about eleven months ago.
Although the German government announced last summer its intention to resume deportations to Afghanistan after incidents of violence in Mannheim and Solingen, the implementation remained complicated due to the lack of diplomatic relations with the Taliban. Negotiations with the Taliban are mediated by Qatar, and the last flight was carried out by a Qatar Airways plane. The United Nations and humanitarian organizations have strongly criticized these policies. UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Turk called for an immediate halt to the deportation of all Afghans, warning of their exposure to persecution, arbitrary detention, and torture. UNHCR representative Arfat Jamal warned that conditions in Afghanistan currently do not allow for any deportations, while UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani condemned the ongoing violations there, including executions and the persecution of women.
Doctors Without Borders expressed its concern about Europe's departure from humanitarian principles and criticized attempts to shift responsibility to other countries. Markus Bachmann, the humanitarian advisor for the Austrian branch of the organization, stated that this meeting seeks to impose further harshness on people, warning against undermining basic humanitarian standards. For her part, Natalie Pawlik, the German government's Commissioner for Refugee Affairs, expressed her rejection of the policy pursued by Dobrindt, emphasizing that Germany needs to reform its immigration policy and enhance integration instead of following a strict deterrence approach, considering that this does not serve Europe's interests.