- Stopping the return sends the wrong signal and will probably motivate more Afghan citizens to leave their homes to travel to the EU, write ministers from Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Belgium and Greece.
Without specifically mentioning Sweden's decision in the letter, the countries express their concern that the number of Afghans joining the EU will rise again.
Afghanistan's Ministry of Refugees met
Germany's decision to open its borders to asylum seekers who primarily fled Syria during the migration crisis in the autumn of 2015 was interpreted by many as a signal that the doors to Europe were open to those who wanted to come. Since then, 570,000 Afghans have sought asylum in the EU. Last year, it was the second largest group of asylum seekers in the Union, 44,000 people. About half received a positive decision on their asylum applications, according to statistics from the EU asylum authority.
In July, EU countries received information from the Afghan Ministry of Refugees that the country is unilaterally pausing the agreement it has with the EU to receive Afghan citizens who are deported from Europe for three months.
The ministers from the six countries that signed the letter believe that the agreement cannot be broken unilaterally and want Ylva Johansson and her Greek colleague in the EU Commission Margaritis Schinas to act now.
"Therefore, we call on you and your team in the Commission to intensify talks with the Afghan Government on how returns can and will continue in the coming months," the six ministers continued.
SVT Nyheter has sought Commissioner Ylva Johansson for a comment.