Calls for Denmark to begin deporting convicted Afghans

Protesters wave national Afghan flags and hold banners in Copenhagen, Denmark, during a rally following the take over of the country by the Taliban, on August 22, 2021 [NILS MEILVANG/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images]

The Danish centre-right parties are seeking to push for the adoption of the German model of deporting Afghan refugees convicted of crimes, even if it requires cooperation with the Taliban government in Kabul. Copenhagen stopped the process of deporting Afghan asylum seekers and refugees whose applications were rejected and those convicted in its courts due to the unwillingness of the centre-left coalition government, along with some liberal parties, to have contact with the Taliban movement.

Germany deported 28 convicted Afghans on 30 August, after Qatari mediation between the German and Afghan sides that lasted for two months. The Afghans travelled on a Qatar Airways flight that flew directly between Leipzig and Kabul. Berlin granted each deportee compensation of about €1,000 ($1,100) in cash, according to Der Spiegel magazine. The German move prompted the Liberal Alliance, the far-right Danish People’s Party, the Denmark Democrats and the Conservative People’s Party to call on the coalition government headed by Mette Frederiksen to adopt the German model of deporting a few dozen Afghans back to their homeland.

Local media yesterday quoted the Denmark Democrats’ legal rapporteur, Peter Skaarup, as saying that if Germany can send convicted Afghans sentenced to deportation back to their homeland, Denmark should also be able to do the same

The Liberal Alliance’s immigration rapporteur, Steffen Larsen, supported this call, stressing the need to find ways to communicate with the Taliban government through Qatari mediation to complete the deportation.

The centre-right Moderates, who form part of the coalition government led by Foreign Minister and former Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, however finds Berlin’s agreement with the Kabul government “very problematic.”

Party member, Mohammad Rona, who is of Afghan origin said: “We will not make an agreement with the Taliban, thus legitimising a terrorist organisation.”

READ: UK government freezes key education scholarship for Afghanistan students

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