Germany may deport more than 12,000 Afghan migrants

KABUL are considered safe, a media report said on Thursday.

According to a German government document reviewed by a German newspaper Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung, about five percent of the 247,000 Afghans who had reached Germany by the end of September would likely be sent home because their safety could be guaranteed in Afghanistan's larger cities. That would amount to 12,539 Afghans.

The document is an explanation by the government to a question posed by the hard-left Die Linke (The Left) party.

The government of Germany says it expects some of the migrants will return of their own accord, but notes some of the removals might be by force. The forced repatriation of Afghans is controversial, since there are many questions about how safe their country is, given regular Taliban attacks.

Just last week, four people were killed when the Taliban attacked the German Consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of northern Balkh province.

So far this year, 27 Afghans have been deported from Germany after their asylum applications were rejected.

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