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The decrease was in part due to travel regulations due to the coronavirus pandemic, with officials citing a lack of flights and the refusal of some countries to take back their citizens.
Deportations of failed asylum seekers from Germany declined significantly in 2020, in part due to the coronavirus pandemic.
From January to the end of October, 8,802 people were expelled from Germany, said Home Secretary Volkmar Vogel in response to a question from Ulla Jelpke, MP and Party spokesperson for home affairs. left socialist.
The figure compares to 22,097 people deported across 2019.
If the number holds throughout the year, that would mark a 52% drop from last year.
The decrease in evictions is mainly due to a lack of thefts. Destination countries have also sometimes refused to take back their citizens, citing protection against the coronavirus as the reason.
Calls to end all evictions
According to a report released by the German Institute for Human Rights, Germany also temporarily halted evictions in mid-March, at the start of the global pandemic.
However, “since the opening of the borders, the resumption of air traffic, deportation measures to third countries have also been applied”.
“This development is important given Germany’s duty to protect those affected by deportation,” the report said.
The institute also called for a total suspension of evictions amid the pandemic.
“Given the uncertain situation and the imminent danger to health and life posed by COVID-19, evictions should be suspended for the time being.”
According to the German Interior Ministry, the main destination countries for deportations in 2020 were Albania, Georgia, France, Serbia and Moldova.
The number of voluntary departures financially supported by Germany will also likely be lower in 2020. As of October, more than 4,000 people had taken advantage of this program, the Interior Ministry said.
Germany resumes deportations to Afghanistan
Despite a reduction in deportations earlier in the year, Germany resumed the practice with Afghan citizens this month. On Thursday, 40 asylum seekers arrived in the capital Kabul. Since December 2016, the German government has deported 937 asylum seekers to Afghanistan.
German NGOs and politicians denounced the move, in view of both endemic violence in the country and the lingering global pandemic.
“It is scandalous that the federal government continues to force deportations to one of the most dangerous countries in the world. People should not be sent into war and misery, ”Jelpke said of the resumption of deportations to Afghanistan.
Additionally, the country’s general shutdown for all deportations to Syria – a policy that has been in place since 2012 – will expire at the end of the year.
Earlier this month, state interior ministers failed to agree on another extension, meaning that in 2021 authorities will be able to examine the possibility of deporting people to Syria case by case.
The ministers insisted that the rule only applies to convicted offenders and those considered to pose a serious security risk.
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