Austria Plans First Deportation to Syria in Many Years
For the first deportation to Syria in many years, the approval of the Syrian authorities is needed once again. Because the relevant certificate for the man is reportedly expired today. The Ministry of the Interior describes the cooperation with the authorities in Damascus as "correct".
ECJ sees no hindrance to deportation anymore
In detail, the Ministry of the Interior did not want to comment on the APA's request, as is usual in individual cases. Had the deportation taken place, it would have been the first since the outbreak of the civil war in Syria, which began almost a decade and a half ago. Since the change of power in Damascus with the fall of the Assad regime, Austria has been striving to deport Syrians back to their homeland. These plans are mainly aimed at individuals who have committed crimes.
In the specific case of the convicted criminal, who also served a longer prison sentence in Austria, there was no longer any hindrance to deportation from the European Court of Human Rights. This means there are no legal concerns under European law, as it is not assumed that the person is in danger in their homeland. However, Lukas Gahleitner-Gertz from the Asylum Coordination expressed concerns to Ö1 and APA. The situation in Syria remains unclear. It is also unknown how the man will be treated after his arrival in Syria. It cannot be estimated whether he will be arrested or even tortured.
Karner laid the foundation with visit to Syria
That Austria wants to take deportations seriously had been apparent for some time. Together with his then German counterpart Nancy Faeser, Karner visited Syria at the end of April and sought talks with the new rulers there. "We were able to agree on concrete implementation steps regarding the training of security forces as well as return and deportations," the Minister of the Interior explained at the time.
Deportations from the EU to Syria are currently absolutely unusual. Although a Eurostat statistic suggests that several dozen people were transferred to the country from Romania and Hungary in recent months. However, whether these deportations actually took place is unclear.
The Freedom Party saw the failed deportation as "another proof of the asylum show politics of the ÖVP". Instead of individual deportations, a "controlled, comprehensive wave of deportations to Syria" is needed, emphasized the blue MEP Petra Steger. Additionally, an "effective external border protection with a functioning entry and exit system" is indispensable.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.