BERLIN: Germany and the Netherlands said Wednesday they have stopped forced repatriations of Afghan migrants because of deteriorating security in Afghanistan, as the Taliban pressed on with its rapid advance in the country's north.
"Due to current developments in the security situation, the interior minister has decided to suspend deportations to Afghanistan for the time being," Germany's interior ministry spokesman Steve Alter wrote on Twitter.
Separately in The Hague, Dutch State Secretary for Justice and Security Ankie Broekers-Knol announced a "moratorium on (deportation) decisions and departures."
The halt "will apply for six months and will apply to foreign nationals of Afghan nationality," she wrote in a letter to the Dutch parliament.
Wednesday's move by the Germans and Dutch marked a sharp U-turn from their previous position.
Kabul urges Europe to halt forced deportations of Afghans
Officials had said as late as Tuesday that both governments had joined their counterparts in Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Greece to write to the EU's executive arm saying they should be allowed to press on with expulsions of Afghan migrants if their asylum bids fail.
Afghanistan urged the EU in July to cease forced deportations of Afghan migrants for three months as security forces battle the Taliban offensive ahead of the full US military pullout from Afghanistan on August 31.
Taliban have in recent days made huge advances in the north, capturing territory including provincial capital Kunduz -- where German soldiers had been deployed for a decade until the end of June.
German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had voiced disappointment at the developments.
"The reports from Kunduz and from all over Afghanistan are bitter and hurt a lot," she wrote on Twitter on Monday.
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