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Germany follows Netherlands’ lead & suspends deportations to
Afghanistan, days after asking Brussels to let them continue
11 Aug, 2021 15:10
In an abrupt U-turn, Berlin said on Wednesday it will halt deportations to Afghanistan for security reasons just days after it urged the EU not to block deportations. The decision follows a similar reversal by the Netherlands.
Germany’s Interior Minister Horst Seehofer ordered the deportations to be halted “for the time being,” the minister’s spokesman, Steve Alter, told journalists on Wednesday.
“On the basis of the current developments in the security field, the Federal Interior Minister has decided to temporarily suspend deportations to Afghanistan,” Alter wrote on Twitter. According to the German dpa news agency, six Afghans were scheduled for deportation last week but the procedures were postponed.
The ministry did not give an exact timeframe during which deportations would be halted. Instead, Alter told journalists that almost 30,000 Afghans currently residing in Germany were slated for deportation. He added that the Interior Ministry still believes “there are people in Germany who need to leave the country, as soon as possible” but did not elaborate on when exactly that could happen.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Netherlands also announced a “moratorium” on deportations amid “uncertainty” in Afghanistan. Amsterdam said that the moratorium would be in place for at least six months.
Both nations suddenly changed their minds after earlier asking the EU to allow the deportations (2nd story on link) to Afghanistan continue. Together with Belgium, Austria, Denmark and Greece, they urged the European Commission to “guarantee the forced return of certain Afghans” just days ago.
“Stopping returns sends the wrong signal and is likely to motivate even more Afghan citizens to leave their home for the EU,” the nations’ ministers wrote to the European Commission in an August 5 letter.
Kabul had previously requested that EU nations put a pause on deporting Afghans back to Afghanistan for three months, which Finland, Sweden and Norway did. The European Court of Human Rights also opposed the continued deportations.
The court particularly ordered Austria to postpone the deportation of one Afghan citizen last week, citing “a clear risk of irreparable harm to the complainant”.
The developments come amid a massive onslaught by Taliban militants in Afghanistan. The militant group launched a large-scale offensive as US troops and allies were gradually withdrawing from the war-torn nation after two decades of war.
The militants have reportedly captured nine Afghan provincial capitals in less than a week. Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu also said on Wednesday that the Taliban was in full control of the Afghan border with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north. The UN Refugee Agency estimates that 400,000 Afghans have been internally displaced since the beginning of the year.
Taliban captures ninth Afghan regional capital in less than a week
11 Aug, 2021 08:41
August 1, 2021. © Hoshang Hashimi/AFP
The Taliban has continued assaults on major Afghan cities, reportedly capturing the nine provincial capitals in less than a week. The US earlier said it will press the militants to stop their attacks during peace talks in Qatar.
Why would they stop when they are winning cities, often without a shot being fired?
The militants have seized Faizabad, the capital of the northwestern Badakhshan province, bordering Tajikistan, after several days of intense fighting, during which both sides suffered heavy losses, local lawmaker Zabihullah Attiq told AFP.
Another local politician, Ahmad Jawid Mojadadi, confirmed the loss of the town to the New York Times.
Faizabad became the ninth provincial capital to fall as a result of Taliban assaults in less than a week. The other two cities captured on Tuesday were Farah, the center of the region of the same name, and the capital of Baghlan, Pul-i-Khumri.
According to Pajhwok Afghan News, government forces are now controlling only two out of nine northern capitals, Maimana and Mazar-i-Sharif, a regional economic hub that has been surrounded and cut off from Kabul. Heavy fighting also continues in southern Kandahar and Helmand province.
The Taliban has been rapidly gaining ground amid the withdrawal of US troops, which is set to be completed by the end of this month. The Pentagon vowed to continue its support for the government in Kabul after US soldiers leave and has recently stepped up airstrikes against the militants.
Despite assurances from Washington, there is a growing fear that without American boots on the ground, Afghanistan will be overrun by the Taliban.
Current and former US officials, who spoke with the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity, said on Tuesday that Kabul, the seat of the Afghan government, could fall a lot sooner than the US military feared weeks ago. They said it could happen anytime ranging from within a month after American troops leave to as soon as six months after the withdrawal.
“Everything is moving in the wrong direction,” a person familiar with the military's new intelligence assessment was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, peace talks resumed in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday. The US State Department earlier said its envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, will press the militants to end their offensives.
A Taliban spokesperson was quoted as telling Al Jazeera that the group remains committed to the negotiations and does not want them to collapse.
The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, ejecting the Taliban from Kabul and other major cities. However, the war has dragged on for nearly two decades. The fighting continued even after a peace deal was signed between the US and the militants early last year.
It seems the Taliban are closing off borders as quickly as they can. Is this because they want to find and murder anyone who helped American forces?
Taliban reportedly just 50km from Kabul as militant group
takes Logar province
Journalist claims Taliban fighters allowed to choose 4 women or girls for wives
13 Aug, 2021 13:46
Taliban fighters on patrol, Afghanistan (FILE PHOTO) © REUTERS/Stringer
The Taliban have captured Logar province and its capital Pol-e Alam, leaving the militant group just 50km from the Afghan capital following a rapid offensive which has seen the Kabul government lose vast swathes of the country.
On Friday, the Taliban captured the city of Pol-e Alam, the provincial capital of Logar province, according to multiple media reports. The province is also known for being President Ashraf Ghani’s home state.
With the latest conquest the Taliban are now just 50km (30 miles) south of the country’s capital, and last government stronghold, Kabul. “Now the Taliban are 100 percent in control. There is no fighting at the moment. Most of the officials fled to Kabul,” lawmaker Saeed Qaribullah Sadat told AFP.
Journalist Bilal Sarwary stated that Logar governor Abdul Rahim Qayumi fought against the oncoming Taliban for six hours, with his 40-strong protection force. He added that the police chief, National Directorate of Security leader and other officials surrendered.
Earlier on Friday, the Taliban claimed that Afghanistan’s second-largest city, Kandahar, had fallen. The group said it had seized hundreds of weapons and vehicles, as well as large amounts of ammunition during the operation.
Speaking to CNN, Afghan member of parliament Gul Ahmad Kamin confirmed the city was no longer under government control, adding, “many soldiers surrendered and the rest fled.”
Western nations which occupied the war-torn nation for nearly two decades have now called on their citizens to leave the country. The UK said on Thursday that it would deploy 600 troops to facilitate the evacuation of Britons and local translators.
Canada has sent in Special Forces to help evacuate as many as 2000 western-friendly Afghans from Kabul. It's questionable whether they will have enough time to accomplish that. While western countries are sending troops to defend Kabul, the Taliban have so far been unstoppable.
This is a human disaster as Taliban fighters are allowed to choose 4 women or girls, 15 or over, to take as wives. Women in Afghanistan will once again become invisible and uneducated sex slaves.
France’s top court upholds constitutionality of controversial anti-separatism law aimed at tackling Islamists
13 Aug, 2021 18:11
France’s Constitutional Council has approved a controversial ‘anti-separatism’ bill, upholding its main provisions. The legislation, which drew criticism on various points, has been seen as a tool against hard-line Islamists.
The ruling on the legislation, officially known as the “Bill confirming respect for the principles of the Republic,” was announced by France’s top court on Friday. The judicial body upheld the legislation as a whole, confirming the constitutionality of its main provisions.
The ruling was cheered by the legislation’s main sponsor, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who said the court’s decision was “excellent news” for the whole republic.
“This text wanted by Emmanuel Macron will make it possible to fight, with force, thanks to new weapons, against those who want to undermine secularism, our common good,” the minister tweeted.
However, the Constitutional Council shot down several minor provisions introduced under the legislation, chiefly the power to forcibly suspend associations that are subject to a dissolution procedure, as this would unnecessarily infringe on freedom of association. The court also dismissed a provision enabling the authorities to refuse the renewal of a residence permit to a foreigner who had shown a rejection of the principles of the French republic. The court said the bill did not provide a mechanism of “sufficient precision” for non-renewals on such grounds.
The legislation, adopted by the country’s National Assembly on July 23, has been the subject of several months of heated debate. With measures including providing new tools to fight online hatred, expanding government control over religious organizations, and severely restricting home-schooling to prevent religious indoctrination, the legislation has been harshly criticized as going against what it is designed to protect – France’s own liberal values.
At the same time, it has also been widely regarded as anti-Muslim in its essence. It effectively forces Muslim parents to send their children to public schools where religious symbols and garments are already prohibited. The legislation also strictly regulates donations that religious organizations can receive from abroad, with sums above €10,000 being made subject to mandatory declaration.
Czechia to continue deporting Afghans, unlike other European nations, as crisis escalates in war-torn country
13 Aug, 2021 15:51
The Czech Republic’s interior minister has confirmed that the country will not halt deportations of asylum seekers back to Afghanistan, unlike several other European nations, amid the Taliban’s rapid gains in the war-torn country.
Speaking to local media on Friday, Interior Minister Jan Hamacek said the Czech Republic will not be adopting a similar “blanket” stance to the European nations that have temporarily suspended deportations from their countries to Afghanistan.
“The Czech Republic approaches all asylum applications individually, carefully examining the reasons for possibly granting it. We will not make any blanket exceptions,” Hamacek remarked.
I am guessing that those Afghan migrants who are worthy of deportation are probably not in too much danger from the Taliban.
The central European country has also reportedly been mulling how to assist Afghans who worked with Czech troops deployed there under the NATO mission.
They had better work fast; time is running out.
Prague’s decision to continue with the deportations coincides with a spokesperson from the United Nations’ Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warning of an imminent humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
“An inability to seek safety may risk innumerable civilian lives,” the agency said in a statement on Friday. “UNHCR stands ready to help national authorities scale up humanitarian responses as needed.”
Several European governments recently announced they were pausing sending Afghan nationals back as the Taliban advances through the war-torn country. Finland, Sweden, and Norway responded to Kabul’s pleas to the EU to temporarily stop deportations for three months.
After penning a joint letter with Greece, Belgium, Austria, and Denmark urging the EU to “guarantee the forced return of certain Afghans”, Germany and the Netherlands later backpedaled and issued a similar freeze on repatriations.
Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer, who has previously held immigration talks with Hamacek, vowed that the country will take matters into its own hands to curb illegal immigration by forming alliances with other states last month. Nehammer also accused the EU of sending “the wrong signals” to asylum seekers.
A senior EU official estimated on Tuesday that 400,000 Afghans have been displaced as the Taliban sweeps through the country and the US withdraws troops after a bloody 20-year campaign.
Denmark & Norway shutter Kabul embassies, Germany cuts
staffing to bare minimum as West’s exodus continues
13 Aug, 2021 15:49
Denmark and Norway have announced plans to close their embassies in Kabul, while Germany has said it will minimize operations at its consulate in Afghanistan, as allied governments scramble to get their citizens out.
On Friday, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod announced plans to close the country’s embassy in Kabul and evacuate its staff as the security situation worsens and the Taliban advances on the capital.
Shortly after the Danish announcement, Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide also stated that the country’s embassy in Afghanistan would shut temporarily, and its staff would be repatriated.
With reports spreading on Friday that the Taliban was just 50km (30 miles) from Kabul, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said their embassy in Kabul would greatly reduce its operations.
“The government’s crisis coordination team also decided to bring forward charter flights that were originally planned for the end of August,” Maas told reporters, noting that only a skeleton staff would remain and security measures would be stepped up. He added that Germany intends to fly out local helpers on the repatriation flights.
Also on Friday, the French government called on its citizens to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible, reiterating a call made last week.
The UK and US have both announced that they will redeploy a contingent of troops to the war-torn country to oversee their repatriation efforts. Washington said on Thursday it plans to maintain a “core diplomatic presence” and US repatriation efforts will be aided by some 3,000 military personnel.
On Thursday, the British government announced that 600 troops would be deployed to oversee the evacuation of UK nationals. It also said its embassy will continue to focus on consular assistance and to provide visas for former UK staff in Afghanistan.
On Friday morning, the Taliban claimed the capture of Afghanistan’s second-largest city, Kandahar. This was followed by reports that the militant group had seized the city of Pul-i Alam, the provincial capital of Logar province, bringing them just 50km (30 miles) south of Kabul.
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