Twenty European countries, including Bulgaria, have called on the European Commission to provide more opportunities for the return of Afghans without residence permits on EU territory, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
The Dutch government has published a letter to this effect, addressed to the European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner.
In the letter, the signatories complain that last year 22,870 Afghans received a repatriation decision from the EU, with only 435 actually returning to Afghanistan, which is now back under Taliban control.
The parties insist that the issue of voluntary and forced returns to Afghanistan be addressed as a shared responsibility at EU level.
They also call for consideration of additional possibilities for deportations to Afghanistan, with priority given to those who pose a threat to public order or national security.
The letter was signed at the initiative of Belgium by Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Austria, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Netherlands.
Norway, which is not a member of the EU but belongs to the Schengen area and cooperates with the EU Agency for Asylum, also signed the agreement.
Germany is currently negotiating with the Taliban on deportations to Afghanistan. According to Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, the talks are at a fairly advanced stage.
Contacts with the Taliban are controversial, as the German government does not officially maintain diplomatic relations with the group, which returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
The Taliban are internationally isolated due to their disregard for human rights, especially women's rights. Since the group took power, Afghans have been deported from Germany twice with the help of Qatar.
/ИЦ/
Source: www.bta.bg