Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych - 03 October 2016: EU signs deal to deport Afghan asylum seekers

This weekend an agreement about migration between the EU and Afghanistan has been signed, which has now been made public. It enables the EU Member States to deport Afghan refugees easier to their homeland. Afghans constitute the second largest group of asylum seekers in Europe with 196,170 applying last year. This agreement gives the EU the right to deport Afghans who do not fulfill the conditions to stay in the EU and Afghanistan reaffirmed its commitment to readmit its citizens who entered into the EU or are staying on EU territory irregularly.

Furthermore, Afghanistan agreed to issue necessary travel documents for the deportation more quickly. For easier access a dedicated terminal will be built at the airport in Kabul. In return the EU will pay financial assistance to help bring stability to their country and cover all travel costs as well as help finance an Afghan-led campaign to tell people not to make the journey to Europe.

During this agreement, there has been no oversight, nor consultation or any mention of it to migration organisations in Europe and there was hardly any chance to resist, according to Schuster, a Kabul-based migration expert.