German govt discusses deportations to Afghanistan via Uzbekistan

FRANKFURT: Germany’s government is holding talks with Uzbekistan to enable deportations from Germany to Afghanistan without direct consultations with the Taliban, according to a report in German magazine Der Spiegel on Sunday.

A delegation from the interior ministry travelled to the Uzbek capital Tashkent in late May for this purpose, the magazine said without disclosing its sources.

The delegation suggested to the Uzbek government that Afghan deportation candidates should be brought to Tashkent. From there they could be transported to Kabul via private airline KamAir, the report said. The German interior ministry did not immediately comment on the report.

Earlier in June, Germany’s interior minister Nancy Faeser said Germany was considering deporting Afghan migrants who posed a security threat back to Afghanistan, after a deadly stabbing of a police officer drew calls for a tougher line on migration.

Such a move would be controversial as Germany does not deport people to countries where they are threatened with death. It stopped deportations to Afghanistan after the Taliban took power in 2021.

The Uzbek government wants to sign a formal migration agreement with Germany before a deal on deportations, the Spiegel report said.

This agreement should regulate the entry of Uzbek skilled workers into Germany, and Berlin’s special representative for migration agreements will travel to Uzbekistan next week, Spiegel said.