PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th August, 2021) The Dutch government has decided to halt for six months the deportation of Afghan refugees denied asylum due to instability in their home country, State Secretary for Justice and Security Ankie Broekers-Knol said on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, Germany also announced the suspension of deportations as the Taliban (terrorist organization, banned in Russia) seized vast areas, including several provincial capitals.
"The security situation [in Afghanistan] changes from day to day, and saying for sure what consequences it will have for citizens is difficult. Although our current policy takes into account the unstable situation in Afghanistan, and many refugees' groups were classified as high-risk and vulnerable, the further development of the situation is unclear, that is why I decided to impose a moratorium on deportations," Broekers-Knol stated in a letter to the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the country's parliament.
The moratorium will stay in effect for six months, and a further decision should be postponed until the situation stabilizes in Afghanistan, the secretary added.
"After the moratorium is put into effect, the Afghan citizens lacking the means of rights protection, will not be obligated to return to Afghanistan," Broekers-Knol explained.
In July, Afghanistan called on the European Union to stop deporting Afghan asylum seekers for at least three months in view of intensified fighting between Taliban militants and government forces.
However, the Netherlands and five other EU countries, namely Germany, Denmark, Austria, Belgium and Greece, submitted a letter to the European Commission on Tuesday, asking to keep in force the existing agreement with Afghanistan on refugees' deportation. In this letter the EU nations refer to the obligation of all countries to repatriate their nationals. They also expressed their concern over over Afghanistan being the main source of illegal migration to the bloc in the future.
