Frankfurt (Germany), 12 August (LaPresse) – “The German government is effectively collaborating with the Taliban regime.” This is the accusation levelled by the German NGO Misereor on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s seizure of power in Afghanistan on 15 August 2021. The organisation is particularly critical of Berlin’s growing direct collaboration with the Islamist regime regarding the deportation of Afghan citizens. Misereor emphasises that the German government has entered into bilateral agreements for the deportation of convicted Afghan nationals and is planning further repatriations of citizens with no criminal record. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has stated that he does not wish to recognise the “de facto regime”, but according to the NGO, Berlin is recognising it in an increasingly direct manner. Two Taliban representatives are already heading the embassy in Berlin and the consulate-general in Bonn, with authorisations and visas granted by the German government. According to Misereor, the Taliban are also stepping up pressure on Berlin to allow them to send further diplomats, including by cancelling deportation flights, the most recent of which took place in early July. Meanwhile, the NGO reports a deterioration in living conditions for the population, particularly for women. “The Taliban regime is suffocating the people,” says a representative of the partner organisation Afghanistan-Schulen. “Older girls and women are suffering increasingly from depression because they have no prospects for the future and can hardly leave the house anymore.” According to the organisation, girls are also being married off at an increasingly young age because they have no opportunity to study or work. Restrictions preventing women from accessing public places such as parks and toilets have further exacerbated their isolation. “We are not asking for much, just the right to study and to live with dignity,” say Misereor’s Afghan partners.
Afghanistan: German NGO: ‘Berlin is effectively collaborating with the Taliban’
Frankfurt (Germany), 12 August (LaPresse) – “The German government is effectively collaborating with the Taliban regime.” This is the accusation levelled by the German NGO Misereor on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s seizure of power in Afghanistan on 15 August 2021. The organisation is particularly critical of Berlin’s growing direct collaboration with the Islamist regime regarding the deportation of Afghan citizens. Misereor emphasises that the German government has entered into bilateral agreements for the deportation of convicted Afghan nationals and is planning further repatriations of citizens with no criminal record. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has stated that he does not wish to recognise the “de facto regime”, but according to the NGO, Berlin is recognising it in an increasingly direct manner. Two Taliban representatives are already heading the embassy in Berlin and the consulate-general in Bonn, with authorisations and visas granted by the German government. According to Misereor, the Taliban are also stepping up pressure on Berlin to allow them to send further diplomats, including by cancelling deportation flights, the most recent of which took place in early July. Meanwhile, the NGO reports a deterioration in living conditions for the population, particularly for women. “The Taliban regime is suffocating the people,” says a representative of the partner organisation Afghanistan-Schulen. “Older girls and women are suffering increasingly from depression because they have no prospects for the future and can hardly leave the house anymore.” According to the organisation, girls are also being married off at an increasingly young age because they have no opportunity to study or work. Restrictions preventing women from accessing public places such as parks and toilets have further exacerbated their isolation. “We are not asking for much, just the right to study and to live with dignity,” say Misereor’s Afghan partners.