Failed Asylum Seekers Deported From Germany Arrive In Afghanistan

Afghan refugees deported from Germany arrive at the international airport in Kabul on a previous flight. A total of 937 failed asylum seekers have been sent back to Afghanistan from Germany since December 2016. (file photo)

A group of 30 rejected asylum seekers has arrived in Kabul after being deported from Germany, officials from the Afghan Refugees and Repatriation Ministry said on December 17.

A total of 937 failed asylum seekers have been sent back to Afghanistan from Germany since December 2016 via 34 chartered flights.

The last deportation flight from Germany was in March.

Other European Union member countries have also resumed deportation flights. A plane carrying 11 migrants deported from Austria and Bulgaria landed in Kabul on December 16.

Rights groups have been criticizing the deportations, saying Afghanistan, wracked by decades of war, is too dangerous to send asylum seekers back to.

Despite the start of peace talks between the Kabul government and the militants in September, the conflict continues and the security situation is deteriorating.

Almost daily attacks from the Taliban and Islamic State militants are taking a toll on civilians in the country.

There are regular clashes in various parts of the country and bomb and rocket attacks in the capital, Kabul.

On December 16, Afghan officials said at least 13 police officers were killed in an attack on a security checkpoint in the northern province of Baghlan.

The UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) says 5,939 civilian victims -- 2,117 people killed and 3,822 wounded -- were registered in the first nine months of this year.

The coronavirus pandemic has further worsened the situation in one of the world's poorest countries.

The United Nations warned that 5 million more Afghans will be in need of help next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and an increase in conflicts.

The need is increasing and "funding is urgently needed," Acting Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Ramesh Rajasingham told a news conference on December 15.

UN statistics show that some 300,000 people have been forced to flee conflict in Afghanistan this year.

With reporting by dpa, Reuters, AP, tolonews.com, and AFP