Protests in Germany over forced deportations of Afghan asylum seekers and cooperation with Taliban
A number of Afghan asylum seekers and German citizens on Saturday protested at airports in several cities across Germany, including Frankfurt, Cologne, Munich, Bielefeld, Leipzig, Düsseldorf, Hanover and Berlin, against the policy of forced deportation of asylum seekers. They called for the immediate halt of the forced return of asylum seekers to Afghanistan and demanded that the German government end its cooperation with the Taliban on this issue.
The protesters warned that portraying asylum seekers as the cause of social problems and spreading racist propaganda could increase the grounds for discrimination and exclusion. Organisers of the campaign, held under the slogan “Together against the wave of forced deportations of asylum seekers,” stressed the need to uphold the right to asylum and respect human rights.
Criticism of the creation of special deportation terminals and detention centres for asylum seekers comes as the German government has cut funding for social services and healthcare. It was previously announced that a “return terminal” would be built at Munich airport by the end of 2028 to facilitate the deportation process for asylum seekers.
Luca Mueller, spokesman for the coalition organising the protests, described the German government’s cooperation with the Taliban to deport asylum seekers as a “political scandal.” Nasimeh Haidari, one of the asylum seekers present in Leipzig, called the measures a violation of human rights and said no asylum seeker should be returned to a country where their safety and dignity are not guaranteed.
Sina Reich, a spokesman for the coalition, pointing to the history of the right to asylum after World War II, said protecting this right is regarded as an important lesson from the Holocaust. Protests in Munich, which have continued for several months, were also held against the construction of a special deportation terminal, with around 600 people taking part.
The protests come as the German government and several European countries have expanded cooperation with the Taliban administration to return asylum seekers with criminal records and those whose asylum applications have been rejected, a move that has raised serious concerns over its human rights and security implications.
