Deportation to Afghanistan: safe or unsafe origin?

The German government has decided to offer Syrian refugees protection in Germany but to send home more Afghans. German human rights NGO Pro Asyl is accusing the government of restricting the right to asylum.
The number of people from Afghanistan seeking protection is on the rise. More than 31,000 Afghan refugees arrived in Germany in October alone - and a total of 67,000 this year. They are the second-largest refugee group after Syrians, but the German government plans to curb the influx of Afghans .

Normally, officials from the German Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) decide whether the individual refugees are victims of persecution and should thus be granted asylum. But if the decision makers don't have a thorough understanding of the political, ethnic and religious conflicts in Afghanistan, they often seek advice from the affiliated German Information Center for Asylum and Migration, which works in a worldwide network of international institutions, non-governmental organizations and local partners in many countries.

Regional differences:  Matin Baraki, a political scientist who teaches at the German university of Marburg, often helps in the decision making process. "If they come to Germany from parts of Afghanistan that are partly or entirely controlled by the Taliban, they have a good chance of staying here," he says of the refugees.

Many Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras and members of other ethnic groups cannot convince authorities that they aren't safe anywhere in the country. "The decision makers say if you are a victim of persecution in western Afghanistan, then you can move to Kabul," explains Baraki, who often works as an interpreter for asylum seekers. - Read More at Deutsche Welle‎

Deportation to Afghanistan: safe or unsafe origin?

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