Austria—one of the European Union members pushing for deportations of Afghans and Syrians—deported an Afghan man on Tuesday, October 21st, the first such removal since 2021.
In July, it also became the first EU state in recent years to deport a Syrian. It has since sent two other Syrians back to their home country, where long-time strongman ruler Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December. However, this fistful of deportations is nothing compared to the five-year flow of inbound mass migration.
A 31-year-old Afghan, who served four years in jail for a sexual offence and for 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 convicted criminals were being prepared.
Austria’s conservative-led government received Taliban government representatives in Vienna in September, drawing criticism from rights groups and the opposition Greens. The Taliban has been largely isolated on the global stage since it imposed a strict version of Islamic law after they returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, following the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.
The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) slammed government hypocrisy and drew attention to the reality behind the scenes. The party described the government’s action as an “embarrassing and hypocritical PR stunt.” This, it claimed, can be seen in the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) recent deportation (“historic”) success celebrations—when the party has already approved 4,249 asylum applications from Afghans this year alone.
According to FPÖ security spokesperson Gernot Darmann MP
The ÖVP is celebrating a drop in the ocean while simultaneously keeping the floodgates wide open for illegal mass immigration. As with the individual deportations of Syrians, this deportation of a single Afghan is also attempting to fool the population. This is the height of hypocrisy, because the same party that is now celebrating a token action has blocked every single deportation for six whole years, allowing our country to be flooded!
FPÖ called for genuine action from the government as the deportation of one convicted criminal does not solve the actual problem nor it is being a deterrent effect for other illegal immigrants. Darmann declared
This single deportation does nothing to change the asylum chaos, for which the ÖVP bears primary responsibility. Syrians and Afghans can still rely on the ÖVP, with its Interior Minister Karner, to be able to enter Austria illegally via numerous secure border crossings and then find a comfortable place in our social system…. We need an immediate asylum stop, consistent border protection, and a large-scale deportation offensive, instead of fooling the population with such cheap PR maneuvers!
