Heading Down the Runway: Two Berlin Criminals Jet Off to Afghanistan
Takeoff from Leipzig-Halle Airport, two Berlin-based scoundrels kick off an airborne trek bound for Afghanistan — a pair of serial offenders, one with a questionable past of inflicted harm and the other a sexual predator, as per Senator Iris Spranger's (SPD) statement on a Friday.
Spranger echoed her stance: "The Berlin administration vows to persist in pursuing deportation of these riffraff, within the bounds of legality and practicability. This encompasses send-offs to Afghanistan and Syria."
Border patrols ought to beef up on an individual basis, and the Dublin III Regulation needs implementation - this calls for the redirection of numerous asylum seekers from Germany to the EU's peripheral borders. Spranger further warned that federal and state governments must seize every available opportunity to terminate the residency of grave offenders and those posing a potential risk.
Aligned with this stand, Berlin's Justice Senator Felor Badenberg (CDU) endorsed the action. "The current removal of Berlin's lawbreakers, in collaboration with the public prosecutor's office, serves as an unmistakable symbol of strengthening trust instringent law enforcement." She also stressed: "Public safety and well-being must be our priority. Deportations should occur without delay. The rule of law should finally put its tools and resources to good use. Otherwise, it will falter before extremists."
During the early hours, a plane took flight from Leipzig/Halle Airport en route to Kabul. Authoritative sources confirmed to dpa that this marked the initial deportation flight to Afghanistan since the Taliban rule. The plane's cargo included 28 Afghan offenders deported from several federal states, alongside federal police escorts. The operation was primarily managed by the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
The Commission raised concerns over the airport's lack of transparency regarding the traffic of the deportation flight. Nevertheless, the Commission persisted with demands for the deportation of convicted felons, championing the importance of safeguarding the rule of law and protecting the population.
Worth Noting:
Insights:
- First Deportation since Taliban Takeover:
- On August 30, 2023, a plane carrying 28 Afghan men, convicted of crimes in Germany, took off from Leipzig/Halle Airport for Kabul, marking the first such deportation since the Taliban's takeover in August 2021.
- Negotiations with the Taliban:
- Germany has been secretly negotiating with the Taliban to facilitate the deportation of Afghan nationals, with these discussions often conducted through third-party intermediaries such as Qatari officials due to Germany's suspension of diplomatic relations with Afghanistan.
- Continued Deportation Efforts:
- Following a recent highly publicized incident in Munich where an Afghan national drove his vehicle into a crowd, killing a mother and child, the German government has announced plans to expedite the removal of criminals.
- Legal and Ethical Concerns:
- The resumption of deportations has been met with criticism from human rights organizations, who argue that sending people to Afghanistan could be seen as complicity in the Taliban's human rights abuses due to the worrisome human rights situation in the country.
- Opponents claim that the deportations violate international law and the German Constitution, as well as suggesting that outsourcing asylum procedures may lead to serious human rights violations.
