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EU to deport large number of Afghan asylum seekers

Xinhua, October 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

The European Union (EU) and Afghanistan have recently signed an agreement which allows the EU to deport large number of Afghans who have no legal basis to stay in the bloc.

The deal, named Joint Way Forward on migration issues between Afghanistan and the EU, states that the Afghan government commits to readmitting its citizens who do not fulfill the conditions to stay in the EU, including those who refuse to return voluntarily.

According to the document, it was signed on Sunday, and has not been made public until Tuesday, which is the first day of the two-day international conference on Afghanistan in Brussels.

The text of the agreement said there should be a limitation to the number of non-voluntary returnees to 50 per flight in the first six months following the signature of this declaration.

However, there is no limitation to the number of daily deportation flights from the EU to Afghanistan though the two sides agreed to ensure "an orderly management of return" in case of non-scheduled

flights.

The deportation work will last for an initial period of two years and then continues for another two years if there is no disagreement.

To prevent further irregular migration from Afghanistan, the Afghan government should take the necessary measures to sensitize the population to the dangers of irregular migration, including through information and awareness raising campaigns. The EU will contribute to finance such information campaigns.

The deal also considers the protection of women, children and elderly people during the deportation process.

"Special measures will ensure that such vulnerable groups receive adequate protection, assistance and care throughout the whole process," it said.

"Unaccompanied minors are not to be returned without successful tracing of family members or without adequate reception and care-taking arrangements having been put in place in Afghanistan, " it stated.

According to Eurostat, the bloc's statistics agency, Afghans represented the most numerous citizenship of asylum seekers considered unaccompanied minors in the EU in 2015, and more than half were registered in Sweden.

The text also said both sides will explore the possibility to build a dedicated terminal for return in Kabul airport and express their willingness to carry out nonscheduled flights at the best convenient times.

The signature of the agreement is the latest move that the EU have taken to alleviate its refugee crisis.

Eurostat data showed that in 2015, 1,255,600 first time asylum seekers applied for international protection in the member states of the EU, a number more than double that of the previous year.

Syrians, Afghanis, Iraqis are the biggest groups of asylum seekers. Endit