Connect with us

Latest News

Germany resumes deportations of Afghans despite COVID pandemic

Published

on

(Last Updated On: December 17, 2020)
About 40 rejected Afghan asylum-seekers arrived in Kabul on Tuesday after being deported from Germany, in a move that has triggered fierce criticism. 
 
Deutsche Welle reported Wednesday that Germany has resumed deportations of rejected asylum-seekers to Afghanistan after suspending flights in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 
Günter Burkhardt, from Pro Asyl, a refugee organization, has called for the planned deportations to be stopped immediately. 
 
“It is completely irresponsible to go ahead with such plans at a time when the whole country (Germany) goes into a nationwide lockdown,” he told DW. 
 
Coronavirus infection rates in Afghanistan are also high, constituting a threat to the deportees’ safety, the organization stated.
 
“Violence has increased on a very high level and I call on nations who have taken in Afghan refugees to adhere to international humanitarian and human rights standards when dealing with asylum-seekers,” Sima Samar, minister for human rights in the Kabul government, told DW.
 
Why the Afghan government agreed to accept the deportees now in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic is unclear. 
 
DW reports that Afghanistan analyst Thomas Ruttig, with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Ideas, suspects the move to resume deportations despite the pandemic is linked to the Afghanistan donors’ conference in November where all participating countries signed a document committing themselves to facilitate the return of rejected Afghan asylum-seekers.
 
Pro Asyl told DW it has learned that several individuals who had been scheduled for the deportation flight got German courts to halt procedures, pointing to the security situation as well as the pandemic, which would make it impossible for the returnees to be able to earn a living in the war-torn country.
 
The German Interior Ministry has also confirmed that the Afghan government has demanded all asylum-seekers test negative for the coronavirus before being deported. 
Germany is not the only country to resume deportations to Afghanistan. Earlier this week there were also reports of deportation flights from Austria and Bulgaria.

Latest News

Magnitude 5.2 quake jolts Afghanistan

Published

on

(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

An earthquake measuring a magnitude of 5.2 on the Richter Scale jolted Afghanistan on Thursday afternoon, the National Center for Seismology reported.

The quake was at a depth of 70km and epicentered in the mountainous north-eastern area of Ashkāsham.

The jolt was felt across the region including in Kabul, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan

There were no immediate reports of any casualties.

In October last year, over 2,000 people were killed when four 6.3-magnitude earthquakes struck in Herat province.

Continue Reading

Latest News

Bayat Foundation helps needy families in Balkh

Published

on

(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

As part of Bayat Foundation’s Ramadan aid campaign, needy families in Mazar-e-Sharif, in Balkh province, received much needed food packages this week.

The aid package includes rice, flour and oil.

“In continuation of Bayat Foundation’s assistance, this time also a quantity of food such as flour, oil and rice was distributed to needy families in Mazar-e-Sharif; Inshallah, these contributions will continue,” said a representative of the foundation.

Needy families that received aid packages expressed their gratitude but called on other aid organizations to help the needy during these difficult times.

“Many thanks to Bayat Foundation, I thank Bayat Foundation for helping the needy and poor people of this region,” said a recipient said.

“I would like to thank Bayat Foundation for their cooperation in helping the needy in this holy month of Ramadan; it is hoped that traders and charities will do such sustainable work,” said another recipient.

Bayat Foundation is one of the charitable organizations that has played an important role in helping the needy in Afghanistan over the last two decades.

In addition to distributing aid packages to needy and vulnerable families, it has carried out numerous other projects, including the construction of health centers and schools.

Continue Reading

Latest News

MoI registers over 8,700 criminal cases in the past six months

Published

on

(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

Abdul Matin Qani, the Ministry of Interior’s spokesman said on Thursday that in the last six months, 8,747 criminal cases have been recorded across the country.

Addressing a press conference in Kabul, Qani said of these cases, 7,233 have been solved while the remaining 1,525 are still being investigated.

He said 12,540 people have been arrested in connection with these crimes.

In addition, 21 kidnappers have been killed, 18 hostages have been freed and 172 people have been arrested in connection with kidnappings in the same period of time.

Qani also said in the last six months 837,000 passports have been distributed. He said three new passport offices will be established in Kabul in the near future.

“10,000 passports are distributed to citizens daily by the Passport Department,” said Qani.

On the issue of narcotics, he said drug cultivation, production and trafficking has been eradicated. He said drug manufacturing equipment and 377 drug factories have been destroyed across the country.

According to him, the ministry has also made advances in collecting illegal weapons, fighting corruption and improving police skills.

Qani stated that during this period, no security incidents took place in most provinces across the country.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2022 Ariana News. All rights reserved!