Deportation of Somalis by private plane from Austria despite court rulings and allegations of violations
Austria is preparing to deport a group of Somali citizens on a special flight to Mogadishu, in the first mass deportation to Somalia in over 20 years. Court documents and internal reports reveal long detention and concerns about mistreatment.
Many Somali residents have been detained for months in deportation centers, despite the lack of guarantees from Somalia to accept them. One of them, a 24-year-old man who has been detained since May, has had the federal court rule twice that his detention is illegal. However, the immigration office has re-detained him, prompting the case to be appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court.
A previous deportation attempt on a commercial flight failed after passengers documented the incident and refused to take off. The young man claims he was tied up with ropes, had difficulty breathing, and was placed with a mask on his face, which caused him to have a panic attack. Meanwhile, the police say he provoked the passengers and that the force used was necessary, although some documents indicate he remained calm during the transport.
Refugee advocacy groups criticize Austria for its lack of transparency and difficulty in accessing police files. They point out that the detention of the young man since May is 'unjustified', especially since the authorities only requested his travel documents from Somalia in October, long after his detention began.
The absence of a formal repatriation agreement with Somalia complicates the deportation procedures. Officials have used unofficial channels to communicate with Somali authorities in previous operations. The Austrian Ministry of the Interior confirms its commitment to high standards in deportation but declined to comment on the private plane for safety and confidentiality reasons, noting that the goal is to avoid a repeat of the chaos that occurred during the failed commercial flight.