The interior ministry said that the aim of the conference was to strengthen the region and Afghanistan’s immediate neighbors. This is what Austria’s joint letter with Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Greece aimed at – “not just for deportations”. About a week ago, the six EU countries urged the EU Commission to continue deportations to Afghanistan, primarily in order to get Afghans who had committed criminal offenses out of the EU. Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands have officially suspended deportations due to the situation in Afghanistan. The countries are also partners for the planned conference.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban are now standing in front of the capital Kabul
“Help on site can only work in harmony with the partners on site,” Schallenberg explained in a statement to the APA. “Conflict and instability in the region will sooner or later spill over to Europe and thus to Austria.” Nehammer added: In order to curb illegal migration towards Europe – and thus also to Austria – a “holistic approach” is needed. The primary goal must therefore be to support Afghanistan’s neighbors in coping with these “difficult tasks”. It is important to help these states and, together with them, to prevent smugglers from making a profit from the suffering of the people. “Solidarity means for us to help those people who need protection – but also to act consistently against those who abuse this help.”
Still “no” to the deportation stop
Meanwhile, Nehammer stuck to his strict stance regarding his no to a general ban on deportations to Afghanistan. Compared to the “Kleine Zeitung” (Sunday edition), he referred to the efforts announced the day before for another deportation flight to Afghanistan. “We have to deport as long as we can,” said the minister, regardless of the fact that such flights have not been carried out since mid-June. “We are working on a flight – in cooperation with Afghanistan. If one becomes possible, then we will do it too. And if that does not work, we have to think about alternatives.”
According to UN figures, 250,000 Afghans have been on the run since May, which means 400,000 since the beginning of the year. Internally displaced persons have traveled to Kabul in large numbers and camp there in parks and public places. Meanwhile, the militant Islamist Taliban are continuing their march of conquest and are already a few kilometers from the gates of Kabul. The German State Secretary Niels Annen recently demanded that Europe should help “take care of the people fleeing locally in the region, for example in Tajikistan, Iran or Pakistan, but also in Afghanistan. Money must be available quickly for this.”
Migration expert Judith Kohlenberger also said that now would be a good time “to prepare for the inevitable refugee movement from the war-landed Afghanistan”. As she wrote on Twitter on Saturday: “Coordinatively, at regional and local level, by supporting the border communities, by creating interfaces, optimizing the accommodation network.”
