Deportations to Afghanistan have been controversial. Pro-asylum groups consider it an unsafe country where deportees could face the threat of persecution by the Taliban, which has not been officially recognized as the ruling government by any EU country.
According to the Austrian public broadcaster ORF, the deportee was convicted of a sex offense and severe assault, and spent four years in an Austrian prison.
A spokesperson for Vienna’s Interior Ministry told POLITICO: “Austria deports convicted criminals to their home countries. If that’s not currently possible in a specific case, we work hard and consistently to make sure it will be possible in the future.”
Stocker said the Interior Ministry plans further deportations. His government also resumed deportations to Syria and Somalia earlier this year.
The first Afghan deportation came two days after Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner of the conservative Austrian’s People’s Party (ÖVP) discussed the issue with Swedish Migration Minister Johan Forssell.
Last Thursday, Karner, Forssell and 18 other EU migration ministers sent a joint letter to EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner, urging the bloc to allow the “voluntary or forced return” of Afghan nationals.