The Czech Republic will not stop deportations of Afghans, said Interior Minister Jan Hamáček. Some European countries – specifically, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland – have temporarily suspended the deportation of unsuccessful Afghan asylum seekers to their home country as the situation in Afghanistan worsens.
“The Czech Republic approaches all asylum applications individually, carefully examining the reasons for possible granting or not-granting of asylum. We will not issue any blanket conditions,” Interior Minister Jan Hamáček said in response to a question whether Czechia would take a similar step as some other European countries.
Journalists also sent a text message to Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhánek, asking what he thought about the situation and how the Czech Republic should act, but he received no response.
According to Eurostat, in 2020, Afghans accounted for 10.6 percent of asylum seekers in the EU, amounting to more than 44,000 out of about 416,600. More applicants arrived only from Syria (15.2 percent). According to an unnamed EU official cited by AFP, 1,200 people have been deported to Afghanistan since the beginning of the year, 200 of whom were “forced” to leave.
From January to June this year, the Czech Ministry of the Interior registered five Afghans who applied for international protection.
“Currently, there are 34 Afghan nationals in detention facilities for foreigners,” said Renata Grecmanová, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Police.
However, it is not clear how many of them are actually awaiting deportation.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, detention facilities for foreigners primarily hold foreigners who have been issued a decision on administrative deportation, are to be transferred to other EU member states, or are waiting for a decision on their asylum application.
Title image: Taliban fighters patrol inside the city of Kandahar, Southwest Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Sidiqullah Khan)
