The Netherlands is deciding whether it can persuade Uzbekistan to accept Afghan migrants who have had their asylum applications rejected. 

Germany recently agreed with Uzbekistan that it could send rejected Afghan asylum seekers to the neighboring country.

“At the moment, the Cabinet is examining the extent to which agreements can be made with Uzbekistan,” said Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber on Wednesday. 

Faber did not elaborate nor would she say when more details would be available. 

These are "sometimes very early discussions, only explorations”, and these do not benefit from openness, Faber said.

Asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal remedies, especially criminals, are often not welcome in their countries of origin, the Netherlands and other European countries have been looking for ways to send them back for years. 

Germany meanwhile hopes to send them back via Uzbekistan. The two countries agreed on this last month, in return for the admission of Uzbek migrant workers and development aid, among other things.

Switzerland has deported two convicted criminals from Afghanistan to Kabul.

This marked the first deportation from Switzerland to Afghanistan since 2019, a spokesperson for the ministry of justice confirmed Sunday.

They are “serious offenders” who present a threat to Switzerland’s internal security, SEM Deputy Director Vincenzo Mascioli told Switzerland’s local media. 

Officials said the two Afghans received CHF500 ($583) in cash from the Swiss authorities to help them get started before their departure.

Further deportations are now to follow “as quickly as possible”, Mascioli said. 

Sonntagsblick newspaper reported that 13 serious criminals from Afghanistan are still in Switzerland.

Badakhshan Governor Mohammad Ayub Khalid has said that hundreds of kilometers of roads have been repaired and paved in the province in the past year, and that work on the road connecting Badakhshan with Panjshir and the construction of the Badakhshan ring road is ongoing.

Badakhshan is in the north-eastern part of Afghanistan and sits mostly in the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountains. Poor roads have plagued this province for decades.

"The road between Darayem and Argo districts has been repaired, paved and gravelled. Likewise, with the cooperation of the Ministry of Public Works, we paved the road between Argo and Faiz Abad."

Khalid added that they have started construction of the Badakhshan ring road in the border districts, the asphalting of the Pamir road up to the Chinese border and will open Khwahan district road to Darwazaha region.

"It's been more than two and a half months since the explosions started in the mountains. The road has been widened to a great extent. The ring road in Badakhshan is very important and its work has started. Meanwhile, we proposed about Kuran wa Munjan, which connects Badakhshan and Panjshir, and it has been approved.”

Residents of Darwazha region say that the road to their districts has been closed for several months, which has caused serious problems for them. They want the government to address the problem of poor road conditions before the arrival of winter.

"Before the cold season arrives, the roads that connect the districts and villages must be reconstructed,” said Ahmad Nabil Qazizada, a resident of Badakhshan.

According to the governor of Badakhshan, construction and repair of hundreds of kilometers of roads has been completed in the last year in coordination with the ministries of rural development, public works and the ministry of national defense.