A year ago Germany deported to Tajikistan an activist from that country’s exiled opposition movement who had been living in Dortmund since 2009. What happened next is a shocking example of what can occur when Germany fails to uphold safeguards in its increased efforts to deport unsuccessful asylum seekers. The Bundestag this month gave police greater powers to carry out deportations.
Germany/Tajikistan: Jailed after Deportation wn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Decisions in France and Germany to return citizens of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to their homelands in recent weeks have been condemned by activists who say they could face torture in detention. Experts say the deportation of asylum seekers from the EU is on the rise.
It’s been two months since Abdullohi Shamsiddin, a Tajik opposition activist living in Germany, was deported by German authorities to Tajikistan. Since being put on a plane on January 18 and arriving in Dushanbe, the Tajik capital, his exact whereabouts are not known.
As UN rights expert Mary Lawlor criticized “an intensifying climate of fear," Tajik courts continued to convict activists and lawyers on dubious grounds.