Yet there are voices saying that sending them back will call problems for home country, which of course is not our first priority, securing our own situation is.
A word of note to the geniuses, the overwhelming lion share of these “refugees” have family members still in Afghanistan, send these muslim settlers back to them.
Interior Minister: Afghan repatriation linked to EU aid
Finland tightened its asylum restrictions in May when it declared Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia largely safe. Europe now wants to make aid to Afghanistan contingent on its acceptance of at least 80,000 deported asylum seekers who arrived in its countries last year. Finland’s Interior Minister Paula Risikko signed a bilateral repatriation agreement with Afghanistan Tuesday.
Interior Minister for Finland Paula Risikko says the recent agreement between Finland and Afghanistan concerning the repatriation of Afghan asylum seekers does not place any new responsibilities on Finland. Afghanistan has not made Finnish development aid a prerequisite, for example, she said.
“There was no discussion of money,” said Risikko, moments after signing the agreement in Brussels.
The agreement has been negotiated since May, and Deputy Minister of Refugees and Repatriations Dr Alema acted as the signer. Minister Risikko said from Brussels that she has full confidence that the Afghan authorities will honour their side of the agreement and accept the repatriated citizens.
Thousands to send back
Last year some 5,200 Afghan nationals applied for asylum in Finland. So far, of the applications that have been processed, about one-third of the applicants have been granted asylum.
“We must ensure that we are able to carry out the deportations,” Risikko said from Brussels.
An international congress that includes representatives of the Afghan government and 70 countries will discuss Afghan aid on Wednesday. The group is expected to vote to keep current levels of development aid intact.
Safety is debatable
Disturbing news about Afghan forces fighting to regain control of the northern city of Kunduz from Taliban fighters was released yesterday. Taliban fighters have also stepped up attacks in other parts of country. They threatened the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah in southern Helmand and have engaged in heavy fighting along the main road to Tarin Kot, the provincial capital of Uruzgan, also in the south.
Finland adheres to its official position that people can be returned to Afghanistan, even if the fighting and bombing continues in certain areas.
“The assessment states that there are such areas, but they don’t prevent Finland from returning people to the entire country, if other areas contain better places,” said Minister Risikko.
She emphasized that each deportation decision in Finland is made on a case-by-case basis.
Afghanistan’s safety is nevertheless a hotly debated topic. For example, Jamil Danish wrote for the UK publication The Guardian last Friday that Europe and Pakistan’s proposals to send millions of people back to Afghanistan will cause mayhem in an already fragile country.
