Migration
Last night, it was the second time Afghan asylum seekers were expelled from Germany. The president of the Commission for Migration of the German Bishops Conference, mgr. Stefan Hesse, archbishop of Hamburg, and the president of the Council for Migration and Social Inclusion of the Evangelical Church of Germany, Manfred Rekowski, pastor, issued a release that harshly criticised what happened: “No man should be sent back to a place where his life is threatened by war and abuse. People’s safety must always prevail over immigration policies”. The level of safety in Afghanistan has deteriorated since last year: “The domestic armed conflict in Afghanistan has intensified, while the number of people trying to leave the country has increased”. In addition, the archbishop and the pastor pointed out, more and more refugees tried to find shelter in the Afghan capital, Kabul, making the state of reception and refugee camps more and more difficult: “Reports from the UN and international refugee organisations say that going back to Afghanistan is an irresponsible humanitarian choice”. In the document, then two Churches do not reject the principle of repatriation if the legal conditions and criteria for asylum are not met; but “deportation to dangerous areas is not acceptable”.
