Austria deports first Afghan since Taliban seized power

VIENNA: Austria, one of the European Union members pushing for deportations of Afghans and Syrians, on Tuesday deported an Afghan man, the first such removal since 2021.

The Alpine nation is one of 20 EU member states which have urged the European Commission to take action to enable both voluntary and forced returns of Afghans with no legal right to stay.

In July, it also became the first EU country in recent years to deport a Syrian.

It has since sent two other Syrians back to their home country, where long-time strongman Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December.

A 31-year-old Afghan, who served four years in jail over a sexual offence and causing grievous bodily harm, was deported from Vienna via Istanbul to Kabul, Austria's interior ministry said.

This was the first such deportation since summer 2021, it said, adding that more deportations of criminal convicts were being prepared.

"This morning, a man convicted of serious crimes was deported to Kabul — the first deportation to Afghanistan since 2021," Chancellor Christian Stocker of the conservative Austrian People's Party wrote on X.

"Austria is thus sending a clear message: zero tolerance for anyone who has forfeited their right to remain by committing criminal offences," he added.

Austria's conservative-led government received Taliban government representatives in Vienna in September, drawing criticism from rights group and the opposition Greens.

The Taliban have been largely isolated on the global stage since they returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, following the withdrawal of US-led forces.

Lawyers for the Afghan, who came to Austria as an unaccompanied minor, failed to obtain a court order to stop his deportation on the grounds that he suffered "severe psychological impairment", according to rights group Asylkoordination Austria.

"We are concerned... that there is no follow-up on what actually happens to the people" who are deported, spokesman Lukas Gahleitner-Gertz told AFP.

They could face "torture or inhumane treatment" in their home countries, he said.

The EU said on Monday it has "initiated exploratory contacts" with the Taliban government in Afghanistan, in the face of pressure from EU member states to increase deportations of failed asylum seekers.

Germany has deported more than 100 Afghans since last year.