For the time being, Switzerland does not want to accept a large group of people directly from Afghanistan. Asylum applications should be examined according to the usual procedure, explains the government. In contrast, around 40 local employees of the cooperation office of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in Kabul and their closest relatives receive a humanitarian visa – a total of around 230 people.
We are working at full speed to bring the local employees and Swiss citizens out of Afghanistan. So far, around 30 Swiss people have reported who want to leave the country. Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis thanks in this context for the support of the USA and Germany.
Nehammer confirms: Hold on to deportations
“Austria continues to deport Afghans according to European law.” Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (VP) confirmed this on Wednesday in Vienna in the run-up to the special online meeting with his EU counterparts. He will propose deportation centers in Afghanistan’s neighboring countries. The EU must give the target countries “framework conditions” and “negotiate on an equal footing”. It is important that “the rule of law is credible,” the Minister of the Interior continued.
When asked why he believes that the neighboring states of the war state, which are already confronted with an increased movement of refugees, are also taking back Afghans, he said: “Because that is the most sensible aid.” There is also “clear room for improvement” when it comes to accepting those seeking protection. There is “clear agreement” among the EU states that the migration crisis of 2015 “must not be repeated here under any circumstances,” said Nehammer. A “coordinated and cohesive” approach is required for this. Austria will “contribute accordingly”.
VfGH: Deportations from Austria not possible
A landmark ruling by the Austrian Constitutional Court (VfGH) on Wednesday is likely to have an impact on future deportations to Afghanistan: An Afghan citizen had applied for suspensive effect with regard to his detention in detention pending deportation. The constitutional judges granted this and also referred to current developments in Afghanistan in their ruling. Against this background, a timely deportation to the country is not possible, it is said.
The verdict of the constitutional judge literally says: “Against the background of the current country information on Afghanistan, the Constitutional Court does not see that a prompt – taking into account the legal maximum detention in detention – is possible and maintenance of detention pending deportation (and the associated deprivation of liberty) only prove to be proportionate if the procedure to be secured can ultimately lead to deportation. “
44,000 Afghans in Austria, second largest community in the EU
The minister declared that Austria is home to 44,000 Afghans, which is already the second largest Afghan community in the EU in relation to its own population. He rejects further charges, so Nehammer.
He referred to local help. The support from the foreign disaster fund in the amount of three million euros is “not the end, but the beginning,” emphasized Nehammer. The aim must be “to keep the majority of the people in the region, but at the same time also to keep the countries that provide this aid, they will not be left in the lurch”. This aid underlines “especially the spirit of the Geneva Refugee Convention”, said the Minister of the Interior.
The special meeting was originally called because of the migration crisis between the EU state Lithuania and Belarus (Belarus). For weeks, Lithuania has been struggling with an increased influx of migrants, especially from the Middle East, across the border with Belarus. The situation had eased a bit recently.
Belarus is trying to blackmail the European Union with “irregular migration” so that the sanctions against the country can be lifted, said Nehammer. It is “completely unacceptable” that people are “used to pursue blackmailing politics”.
Rendi-Wagner: “Symbolic politics without content and missing topics”
In view of the situation in Afghanistan, SP leader Pamela Rendi-Wagner accuses the federal government of “symbolic politics without content” and “missing the topic”. Instead of trying to alleviate the crisis, deportations are being discussed, criticized Rendi-Wagner at a press conference on Wednesday. She called for an international Afghanistan conference in Vienna, an EU special envoy and a refugee deal with neighboring countries in the region.
The fact that on the day the Taliban came to power the federal government was busy trying to deport people there, “that’s bizarre, that’s unbelievable, that’s irresponsible,” says the SP leader. She also criticized the fact that Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (VP) did not speak out. This “pathetic spectacle” by the government is “humiliating”, said SP security spokesman Reinhold Einwallner.
“This is a victory for the Taliban, a terrorist organization, over the West,” said Rendi-Wagner in the situation, not only as a humanitarian but also as a “foreign policy catastrophe”. Austria and the EU would now have to take on a leading role in order to provide the best possible support to the refugees and to contribute to stabilization in Afghanistan.
