After Syria and Somalia, Afghanistan has now also become a destination for deportations from Austria. A man convicted in Austria of, among other things, a serious sexual offense was deported to Kabul early this morning. It is the first deportation from Austria to Afghanistan since the radical Islamist Taliban regained power there in 2021.
The move follows considerable attention earlier this year when an Austrian delegation traveled to Kabul to discuss the administrative possibility of deportations. In September, representatives of the Taliban regime came to Vienna to coordinate the deportation process. It was later revealed that around 30 individuals could be subject to deportation to Afghanistan.
Further Deportations Being Prepared
The Interior Ministry emphasized on Tuesday that additional deportations are being prepared. This tough but necessary course will be pursued consistently, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) said in a written statement. Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP) stressed that there would be zero tolerance for people who lose their right to stay in Austria due to criminal acts. “These offenders must leave the country, no matter where they come from,” he said.
The deported man, born in 1994, had already served nearly four years in prison in Austria. According to the government, he was convicted of serious bodily harm and rape. He was escorted by Austrian police officers via Istanbul to Kabul.
The government thus continues the course it began with three deportations to Syria, followed by the first removals to Somalia in nearly 20 years. Criminal refugees are being deported even to countries where the security situation remains critical. This year, the recognition rate for Afghan asylum applications in Austria stood at 76 percent.
Criticism From Multiple Sides
FPÖ security spokesman Gernot Darmann said in response that the ÖVP was celebrating “a drop in the ocean” while keeping “the floodgates for illegal mass immigration wide open.” He claimed that, as with the individual deportations to Syria, the government was trying to “deceive the public” by highlighting the deportation of just one Afghan.
Amnesty International voiced a different kind of criticism. In Afghanistan, arbitrary rule prevails, and disappearances and torture are everyday occurrences. Stripping people of protection and delivering them to such a regime clearly violates the internationally enshrined principle of non-refoulement: “States are prohibited from sending people back to a country where they face torture, persecution, or other serious human rights violations.”
Green Party leader Leonore Gewessler said at a press conference Tuesday that deportations were legal decisions, not political ones. However, she expressed disapproval of Austria’s talks with the Taliban, saying, “I cannot understand why one would invite representatives of a terrorist organization. I always thought we wanted to keep terrorists out of Austria, not invite them in.”
