The newspaper found that details of deportations to Afghanistan are worked out on an ad hoc basis, with Poland's Border Guard relying on minimal contacts on the ground in the country.
Citing a response from the Interior Ministry, the paper reported that the Border Guard "maintains contacts at a technical level with representatives of Afghanistan's de facto authorities solely to the extent necessary to ensure the effective return of citizens of that country who have been ordered to leave" — primarily through contacts with airport authorities.
The paper recounted an April 10 deportation operation in which three Afghan nationals were expelled despite interim protective measures issued by the European Court of Human Rights. Polish officers reportedly escorted the men from takeoff in Kraków to landing in Uzbekistan, where they were placed on a connecting flight to Kabul — one that no longer carried Polish guards on board.
Tomasz Sieniow, head of the Institute for the Rule of Law, told the paper that after a week in detention at Kabul airport, the Afghans were sent back to Tashkent. The men were then sent back to Kabul a second time; at least one was ultimately allowed to enter Afghanistan.
The Border Guard maintains that its proceedings "always involve individual decisions preceded by a detailed analysis of the foreign national's personal and legal situation, along with verification of conditions in the country of origin", intended to rule out automatic processing and safeguard human rights standards.
At the same time, the paper noted, the service acknowledged that "once Afghan nationals are handed over to the relevant authorities, the Border Guard has no information regarding their subsequent whereabouts, situation, or any actions taken against them by authorities in their country of origin".
(jh)
Source: PAP