The plan for return to Afghanistan announced by the European Union in December raises the spectre of the mass deportation of Afghan asylum seekers from Europe. While it focuses on voluntary return, it states explicitly that those who do not choose to return could be forcibly removed.
By pressurising Afghans to make choices under such conditions, European governments are undermining the principles on which asylum policies have been built. More importantly, the Afghan model sets a worrying precedent for new waves of refugees and asylum seekers, including the expected increased flows of Iraqis, who are the largest group of asylum seekers in Britain.
