D66 and Christenunie argue in favor of not sending asylum seekers back to Afghanistan for the time being. Now that violence is escalating in that country and the Taliban are conquering cities from the government army, the coalition parties want a departure ban.
MPs Van der Werf (D66) and Ceder (ChristenUnie) believe that this stop should in any case last until there is a new ‘official report’ from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the situation in Afghanistan. They have asked parliamentary questions about the issue to outgoing State Secretary Broekers-Knol of Justice.
Accelerated update
The ruling party CDA wants the cabinet to come up with an update of the security situation in Afghanistan at an accelerated pace. “The situation seems to be deteriorating sharply. The update only seems to come in October and we should not have to wait that long,” says MP Kuik. She believes that unsuccessful asylum seekers should not be sent to countries where the situation is unsafe.
The government wants to retain the option of deporting asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal remedies to Afghanistan. Yesterday it turned out that the Netherlands, together with five other European countries, has sent a letter to the European Commission about this. According to the letter, the Commission should talk to Afghanistan about compliance with the existing return agreement and stopping would send the wrong signal.
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