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Only half of Afghan refugees granted right to remain in Germany

Xinhua, April 24, 2017 Adjust font size:

Fewer Afghan refugees are being granted asylum in Germany, according to a report by Passauer Neue Presse, based on a statement from the Interior Ministry.

During the first two months of 2017, almost half of their asylum requests were denied. This represented a decrease of almost 30 percent.

According to the report, the acceptance rate for refugees from Afghanistan fell from 77.6 percent in 2015 to 60.5 percent in 2016 and down to 47.9 percent in January and February 2017. Out of 27,639 rulings on applications for asylum made in those two months, 14,403 were rejected.

The Interior Ministry did not release a statement as to why the number of Afghan refugees being granted protection had fallen.

In light of the aggravated situation in Afghanistan, the Left Party politician and Member of the German Parliament Ulla Jelpke said this is "a result of the political guidelines to increase deportations and send out a deterrent signal."

According to the report, the German government does not have knowledge of the whereabouts of the deportees and does not share information about their legal status, for example, whether the asylum seeker was considered an offender or was otherwise dangerous.

Monday marked the fifth collective deportation of Afghan asylum seekers since September 2016.

Deportations to Afghanistan are a subject of controversy between German state governments. Many German states do not take part in the involuntary repatriation, claiming there is no safe region in Afghanistan. In February, Schleswig-Holstein suspended deportations for three months. Endit