In this Sept 16, 2020 photo, an Afghan asylum seeker sits outside his tent at a makeshift migrant camp set below the A1 highway in the north of Paris' popular suburb of Saint-Denis. (CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT / AFP)
BRUSSELS – Six EU member states have sent a letter to the bloc's executive warning against halting deportations of unsuccessful Afghan asylum seekers despite major advances of Taliban militants in their country.
The Taliban, fighting to reimpose strict Islamic law after their 2001 ouster, have made sweeping gains in their campaign to defeat the government as US.-led foreign forces pull out, capturing a sixth provincial capital on Monday.
"Stopping returns sends the wrong signal and is likely to motivate even more Afghan citizens to leave their home for the EU," Austria, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece and Germany said in the letter, which was posted on Twitter by a journalist for Belgium's weekly Knack news magazine.
"This is why we urge you and your teams at the Commission to intensify talks with the Afghan government on how returns to Afghanistan can and will continue in the coming months."
Since 2015, around 570,000 Afghans have requested asylum in the EU, the letter from the six EU countries noted, 44,000 in 2020 alone
Many EU member states are nervous that developments in Afghanistan could trigger a replay of Europe's 2015/16 migration crisis when the chaotic arrival of more than a million people from the Middle East stretched security and welfare systems and fuelled support for far-right groups.
The European Commission said it had received the letter and would reply when ready.
Asked if the European Commission considers Afghanistan a safe country to which asylum seekers can be returned, a spokesman for the EU executive said it is up to member states to make that judgment.
The issue is expected to come up at an online crisis meeting of EU domestic affairs ministers on Aug 18, which was arranged mainly to discuss a surge of illegal border crossings from Belarus to EU member state Lithuania.
Since 2015, around 570,000 Afghans have requested asylum in the EU, the letter from the six EU countries noted, 44,000 in 2020 alone, making Afghanistan the second most important country of origin last year.
"We fully recognize the sensitive situation in Afghanistan in light of the foreseen withdrawal of international troops," the countries said, adding that an estimated 4.6 million Afghans were already displaced, many of them in the region.
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The six EU members urged the bloc to look into the possibility of providing the best support for refugees in neighbouring countries by increasing cooperation with countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.
Belgium's state secretary for asylum and migration, Sammy Mahdi, defended the initiative against criticism.
"That regions of a country are not safe does not mean that each national of that country automatically is entitled to protection," he said on Twitter late on Monday, adding deportations of rejected asylum seekers from Afghanistan who are ordered to leave the country must remain possible.
A spokeswoman for the Netherlands' Safety and Justice Ministry said that if individuals had the right to asylum they can get it but there should be no catch-all label for one country.
"The situation is very worrying, it's always under review," said spokeswoman Charlotte Hees.