No progress in Swiss repatriation of criminals to Afghanistan

It is unknown when repatriation flights to Afghanistan will start Keystone / Cyril Zingaro

More than two months after a delicate meeting with members of the Islamist Taliban government on repatriating convicted criminals from Switzerland to Afghanistan, it is clear that no further deportations have taken place.

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Four officials from the Afghan Taliban government traveled to Geneva for two days in mid-August. They were supposed to identify 13 Afghan citizens at the airport, thus paving the way for their repatriation to Afghanistan.

But all 13 Afghans are still in Switzerland, as confirmed by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). They include 11 convicted criminals and two voluntary returnees.

When asked by Swiss public broadcaster SRF, SEM declined to comment on the reasons why the repatriations have not yet taken place.

In August, it was stated that the identification of the majority of the 13 Afghans had been successful and that travel documents were being prepared. SEM remains committed to its plans and assumes that the repatriations can be carried out at some point.

Last year, justice minister Beat Jans stipulated that Afghan criminals expelled from the country by Swiss courts should be deported after their prison sentences expire. However, a total of around 20 offenders are still pending repatriation – including the 11 Afghans identified in Geneva. Only five individuals were deported in the fall of 2024.

Other countries

Since then, however, according to SEM, the Taliban have changed their practice. They now only accept travel documents issued by the authorities in Kabul itself – the Afghan representation in Switzerland is no longer responsible.

This, according to SEM, made the two-day visit by Afghan officials from Kabul in August necessary. It is not only unclear what will happen to the Afghans identified in Geneva, but also when the remaining convicted criminals will be deported.

According to SEM, there have been no further visits by Afghan representatives to Switzerland for the purpose of identifying compatriots since August.

Other European countries have also begun repatriations to Afghanistan – including Germany and Austria, which last week deported its first convicted criminal to Afghanistan.

In July, the German government approved the stationing of two Afghan consular officials in Germany to support repatriation flights. According to SEM, Switzerland does not plan to grant such accreditation. No corresponding application has been received, either.

Adapted from German by DeepL/mga

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