On the same day that Angela Merkel’s cabinet approved new measures to expedite repatriations, a plane with 18 rejected asylum seekers left Munich airport for Kabul. It was the third plane with Afghans to leave Germany since mid-December. The move is part of Germany’s new measures for speedier handling of rejected asylum seekers. Interior minister Thomas De Maiziere has been outspoken about this new stance in German asylum policy. On Monday, he made an official visit to a Berlin airport where rejected asylum seekers from Albania and Moldovia were dispatched to return to their countries. Deportations have to happen in a speedy fashion, De Maiziere demanded. The destination countries include Afghanistan, parts of which were designated as safe for return by Berlin last year. On German TV, De Maiziere explained on Monday that repatriation to northern parts of Afghanistan was reasonable. “And one cannot say that the situation in Kabul is such that one could not send people back there“, he said. Controversy about safety assessment As a response, rights groups as well as opposition politicians have voiced their concerns. The state of Schlewsig-Holstein implemented an immediate stop of deportations to the country. The Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid in Germany, Bärbel Kofler, called for an immediate stop of deportations to Afghanistan. “The situation in Afghanistan has not changed but rather the political discourse in Germany,” she said.  While security might vary in parts of the country, it was not good overall, she added. The human rights organization Pro-Asyl has resolute about Afghanistan being an unsafe place for a long time; there have been demonstrations and rallies organized by Pro-Asyl to call attention to the matter. The most recent flight to Kabul was also accompanied by citizen protests.  Yet is it unclear if this will change the government's course in the long run – for one, 2017 is an election year and Merkel is under pressure to maintain her backing by conservative voters, and on the other hand, the cooperation with Afghanistan to take back refugees has just been fortified. On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Afghan and EU leaders signed a cooperation pact aimed at long-term civil reforms in Afghanistan. Part of the deal is that Kabul will accept rejected asylum seekers from Europe. The EU in turn will provide funds and development aid to Afghanistan. Author: Charlotte Hauswedell