Germany to bring back mistakenly deported Afghan migrant
July 18, 2018
German authorities have admitted to wrongfully deporting an Afghan asylum seeker while his appeal was still ongoing. Germany's migration office said it was taking steps to assure the 20-year-old's return.
Young men from Afghanistan gather near the Federal Office for Migrants and Refugees in BerlinImage: Getty Images/S. Gallup
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Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) admitted on Wednesday that it had wrongfully deported a 20-year-old Afghan asylum seeker and that it was taking "the necessary steps" to ensure his timely return.
Nasibullah S. was deported along with 68 other Afghans back to Kabul earlier this month, although the legal proceedings surrounding his case for asylum were ongoing.
The 20-year-old's initial asylum request was rejected in April last year, although a decision on his appeal before an administrative court in the German town of Greifswald was still to be taken.
BAMF said it was in contact with Nasibullah S.'s legal counsel, the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where the 20-year-old lived, and the German embassy in Kabul.
Living with the threat of deportation
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Earlier on Wednesday, Germany's Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said that there had "evidently been an administrative error by the BAMF authorities," adding that he would "always ensure that law and order are observed."
Seehofer last month provoked a government crisis over his controversial "migration master plan," as well as by insisting, despite Merkel's opposition, that Bavaria be allowed to reject migrants at its Austrian border.
BAMF mistakes
According to the regional interior ministry in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the BAMF office had initially assumed that Nasibullah S. had filed his appeal too late, because it had not heard back on his case from local authorities in Neubrandenburg, where the 20-year-old had been living in a migrant shelter.
However, his lawyer, Sonja Steffen said the young man had already filed an appeal against the rejection last year. This was also confirmed by the administrative court in Greifswald.
BAMF officials admitted that the unlawful deportation could have been prevented if the "responsible field office had reacted to the relevant information from the administrative court (...) and re-examined the facts of the case."
The federal migration office also said that the asylum seeker's appeals process would likely be extended.
It is not the first time Germany has brought back refugees from Afghanistan. Last December, the administration court in Sigmaringen also ruled that a deported Afghan asylum seeker be returned to Germany as his application was still pending. The man had fought alongside US troops in Afghanistan and therefore feared persecution from the Taliban. He was subsequently granted permanent asylum.
On Tuesday, news broke that a court in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, had ruled that the deportation of Sami A, an alleged ex-bodyguard of Osama bin Laden, must be reversed and he must be brought back to Germany. The man had been shipped back to his native Tunisia last week from the city of Dusseldorf.
German asylum scandal: A timeline
Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) is under fire over allegations that officials in some branches may have accepted bribes in exchange for granting asylum. Thousands of cases will be re-examined.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Stratenschulte
Corruption scandal at BAMF
On April 20, 2018, a number of employees at the regional BAMF office in Bremen were accused of having illegally accepted hundreds of asylum applicants between 2013 and 2017, mainly from Iraq's Yazidi community. Bremen public prosecutors announced that six people, including the former director of the Bremen BAMF office, were under investigation for alleged corruption in about 1,200 cases.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/Geisler-Fotopress
Damage control
Steffen Seibert, spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, reacted swiftly to the allegations, saying it would be wrong to speculate on what consequences the incident could have for the BAMF immigration offices. He said that the "extremely serious allegations" would first have to be resolved. The BAMF scandal could be a major embarrassment to Chancellor Merkel's open-door policy to refugees.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Nietfeld
The plot thickens
A few weeks into the scandal, German media reported that 13 further regional BAMF branches were going to be subject to checks regarding their approval of asylum applications. The branches had apparently come under scrutiny for showing noticeable differences in the number of asylum applications accepted or rejected in comparison to other offices. Some 8,000 applications will have to be re-checked.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Stratenschulte
BAMF head under fire
A month into the scandal, details emerged that BAMF had been informed about the possible improprieties in Bremen earlier than thought, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported. The irregularities were reportedly flagged back in February 2017. In the light of the growing scandal, BAMF head Jutta Cordt announced that some 18,000 asylum decisions made in Bremen since 2000 now had to be re-checked.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. von Jutrczenka
Seehofer to face parliamentary committee
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer meanwhile confirmed that he would testify before a special meeting of the Bundestag internal affairs committee to be convened at the request of the Green Party. The committee hopes to avoid a full-blown parliamentary investigation, which two other opposition parties — the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the center-right FDP — are calling for.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/D. Karmann
Man of the hour
This might be the man who would have to answer some serious questions if a comprehensive parliamentary inquiry should be launched. Thomas de Maiziere was Germany's interior minister until the beginning of the year, overseeing the management of asylum application at the height of the refugee crisis. De Maiziere, an ally of Merkel's, criticized the shortcomings of the assessment system in the past.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Schreiber
Stripped of authority
On May 23, the German Interior Ministry prohibited the regional BAMF office in Bremen from deciding whether individual refugees will be given asylum in the country. Seehofer said an internal BAMF report had shown that "legal regulations and internal policies" had been "disregarded" at the center.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Assanimoghaddam
Federal Police join probe
The city of Bremen has said Germany's Federal Criminal Police are now part of the inquiry into the wide-ranging corruption. The decision came after a crisis meeting on the scandal surrounding the city's asylum procedure for refugees.
