Greece says EU ‘not ready’ for new migration crisis as Dutch, Germany freeze Afghan deportations

The Netherlands and Germany on Wednesday abruptly reversed course and said they would not for the time being deport Afghan citizens who are seeking asylum, given the rapidly escalating conflict in their homeland.

The decisions by The Hague and Berlin contradict a letter that they had signed to the European Commission last week insisting on their right to forcibly deport Afghan asylum seekers whose cases had been rejected.

German interior ministry spokesman Steve Alter announced the new decision on Twitter “in light of the current security situation” in Afghanistan, hours after journalists were told at a government news conference that deportations would continue despite major advances by Taliban insurgents.

In a letter to parliament, Dutch deputy Justice Minister Ankie Broekers-Knol said the Netherlands had planned to update its policy on Afghanistan in October but had made the decision now “in light of the quickly deteriorating situation” there.

The Taliban, fighting to reimpose strict Islamic law after their 2001 ouster from power, have made sudden, strong gains in their campaign to defeat the Kabul government as U.S.-led foreign forces withdraw after a 20-year presence.

“The situation is undergoing such changes and developments and is so uncertain for the coming time, that I have decided to impose a freeze on decisions and deportations” in ongoing asylum cases, Broekers-Knol wrote.

However, Greece, which last week co-signed the letter with five other European Union countries, said on Wednesday that ending such deportations “would send the wrong message” and encourage more Afghans to try to reach Europe.

The European Union is not in a position to deal with another migration crisis like the one seen in 2015 and must act to try to keep people from fleeing the growing conflict in Afghanistan, Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said on Wednesday.

Mitarachi said the EU should offer more support to help Turkey mitigate the pressures of more migrant arrivals from Afghanistan and said the bloc could not absorb another crisis such as the one faced in 2015.

“Absolutely not, the EU is not ready and does not have the capacity to handle another major migration crisis,” Mitarachi told Reuters.

Many EU member states are worried that the developments in Afghanistan could trigger a replay of Europe’s 2015 migration crisis when more than a million people, most of them Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis, arrived in Europe seeking refuge.

The other signatories to last week’s letter to the EU Commission were Belgium, Austria and Denmark.