Man \u201cconvicted of serious crimes\u201d deported to Kabul, says Chancellor Christian Stocker
\n VIENNA
\nAustria deported an Afghan national back to his home country on Tuesday for the first time since the Taliban seized power there four years ago, and the conservative-led coalition government in Vienna said that more would follow soon.
\nThe government has made fighting illegal immigration a top priority, apparently seeking to erode support for the far-right Freedom Party, or FPO, by focusing on one of its core issues.
\nThe three-party ruling coalition of centrist parties took office in March after the FPO won a parliamentary election but failed to form a governing alliance. The FPO has maintained its lead in opinion polls.
\n\u201cThis morning, a man convicted of serious crimes was deported to Kabul \u2014 the first deportation to Afghanistan since 2021,\u201d Chancellor Christian Stocker of the conservative Austrian People\u2019s Party wrote on X.
\n\u201cAustria is thus sending a clear message: zero tolerance for anyone who has forfeited their right to remain by committing criminal offences,\u201d he added.
\nIn July, Austria became the first European Union country to deport a Syrian back to their home country since the civil war there broke out, despite objections by human rights groups that it was too soon to know if it was safe to do so.
\nAustria has been saying for months that it hopes to resume deportations to Afghanistan despite similar objections.
\nAmnesty International said in a statement that Afghanistan remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world.
\n\u201cAnyone who deports people to a state that commits crimes against its own people is deliberately denying protection and breaking the law,\u201d it said, adding: \u201cThis betrayal of human rights must be stopped immediately!\u201d
\nSyria and Afghanistan are the top countries of origin of asylum-seekers in Austria. The government has said that initially those deported will primarily be criminal offenders.
\n\u201cThe Interior Ministry under Gerhard Karner is preparing further deportations,\u201d Stocker said.
\nThe deportation comes just a day after the European Union said that it has \u201cinitiated exploratory contacts\u201d with the Taliban regime to boost deportations of failed asylum seekers.
\nA majority of EU nations had urged Brussels to reach out to Kabul to boost expulsions.
\nIn a letter initiated by Belgium, 20 EU member states urged the European Commission to take action to enable both voluntary and forced returns of Afghans with no right to stay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Man \u201cconvicted of serious crimes\u201d deported to Kabul, says Chancellor Christian Stocker VIENNA Austria deported an Afghan national back to his home country on Tuesday for the first time since the Taliban seized power there four years ago, and the conservative-led coalition government in Vienna said that more would follow soon. The government has made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":510096,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-510060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n