Earlier this week the Swedish government deported 50 Afghan migrants, the largest deportation of its kind in a single day.
The 50 migrants landed at an airport in the Afghan capital of Kabul with the Afghani authorities accepting all of those deported back into the country, Swedish broadcaster SVT reports.
Among the migrants, who had all received deportation notices from the Swedish Migration Board and were over the age of 18, three had been convicted of crimes.
In a press release Swedish police said of the deportations: “On location in Kabul, the returnees were met by the police’s returning liaison officer and the Afghan authorities.”
The deportations were done with partial funding and in cooperation with the European Union border agency, Frontex.
While the deportations were a success, they were met with protests from the activist group “NU ÄR DET NOG!” (Now, It Is Enough!) which organised demonstrations in 20 locations across the country including Malmö, Lund, Höganäs, Kristianstad, Skivarp, Skurup, and Hörby.
The protests involved demonstrators leaving pairs of shoes with various messages attached to them.
Eva-Märta Granqvist, one of the founders of the group, said: “Expulsions must be stopped because there has been a war in Afghanistan for 40 years. Several large organisations, including Amnesty International, believe that there are no safe areas in Afghanistan.”
“Despite this, the Migration Board continues its forced deportations to the country,” she complained.
Sweden has had a difficult time with expulsions to Afghanistan due to protests, including when 21-year-old pro-migration activist Elin Ersson blocked a flight from Gothenburg to Turkey after she learned an Afghan being deported was on board last year.
Around 9,000 Afghan migrants were allowed to stay in Sweden last year as well, as it was argued that they were underage. Tests later revealed that around 78 per cent of the migrants were actually adults.