European Commission, stop forced repatriation from EU to Afghanistan

Ms. Mogherini, Mr. Avramopoulos,

According to the European Union, Afghanistan is a safe country. Several European countries are repatriating Afghan asylum seekers and refugees, supported by the Joint Way Forward  agreement, signed between the EU and Afghanistan, and by other bilateral agreements.

In reality, the situation in Afghanistan is increasingly uncertain and dangerous, as reported by many international organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Save the Children, UNHCR and others. Returnees, especially those who do not have a family network, have little chance of having a decent life and surviving back home.

Therefore, European countries are sending people back to Afghanistan, despite a high risk of falling victim to war, criminal attacks, drugs, starvation and even death. Who would like to be sent back to a situation like this one? Nobody. For this reason, we initiated an online petition (http://chng.it/PVz4GGwD which has been signed by 10,287 citizens. Signatures are herewith enclosed.

Following the explicit request of the signatories of the above mentioned petition, MEPs Mr. Sergio Gaetano Cofferati (S&D) and Ms. Soraya Post (S&D) proposed the interrogation E-000873/2019, which was addressed by Mr. Avramopoulos on 3rd May 2019.

In his reply, Mr. Avramopoulos clarified that EU member states follow clear directives and take decisions based on a thorough evaluation of individual situations. Unfortunately, these directives and evaluations result in forced repatriations, conducted against the will of asylum seekers and refugees that are fleeing a war-torn country.

Despite the reply of Mr Avramopoulos, which carefully avoided touching on the core issue of our petition, we are still unhappy. If we, as EU citizens, must continue to believe in our institutions, we have to see that these institutions are listening to our voices, and to the reports of many international humanitarian organizations that don’t have a political agenda.

To conclude, we ask you - representative of the EU - to take decisive actions to stop forced repatriation of Afghans from EU countries to Afghanistan.

12/6/2019.

                                 Sincerely,

                                                   Ms Michela Costa, Ms Martina Campart,

                                                         on behalf of the 10.287 petitioners.