Germany will extend the deportation ban on Iranian nationals in the country until the end of the year. The interior ministry found that human rights violations in Iran "continue unchanged."
According to a letter to the conference of interior ministers, seen by the dpa news agency last week, Germany's Federal Ministry of the Interior is coming out in support of the extension of the present deportation ban to Iran by the federal states.
The ministry cited serious human rights violations which "continue unchanged" as its justification, adding that it was important, going forward, that all state governments showed a united front on this issue.
The deadline for the deportation ban is about to expire but will now be pushed forward to the end of the year. Further steps will reportedly be discussed during an upcoming meeting of the conference of interior ministers.
Read more: Germany set to ban deportations to Iran
Deportations 'irresponsible'
Among those vocally in favor of the decision is the migration minister of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Josefine Paul, who told the press that the human rights situation in Iran continued to be dramatic.
She stressed that the Iranian government was continuing to use brute force against women, men and even children who were peacefully protesting for their rights.
"The daily reports on arrests, torture and mass executions leave me stunned and show the brutality with which the regime in Iran is operating," she told the regional Rheinische Post newspaper, adding that this shows that deportations of failed asylum seekers to Iran would currently be deemed irresponsible.
Read more: Number of Iranian asylum seekers in Germany doubles as unrest continues
A protest wave over a headscarf
The current situation in Iran was sparked by protests in September 2022 after 22-year-old Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini died following her arrest by the so-called morality police in the country.
Her crime was to not wear the hijab as prescribed.
With dpa