Taliban Would Take Back Afghan Deportees To Face Courts, Says Spokesman: Report

Austria's conservative-led government has taken a hard line on Afghan asylum seekers and refugees within the European Union, with the interior minister initially saying Austria should keep deporting rejected asylum seekers back to Afghanistan for as long as possible.

The Taliban government in Afghanistan would accept any Afghan migrants whose applications for asylum were rejected in Europe and they would then face court, an Austrian newspaper quoted a Taliban spokesman as saying on Monday. Austria's conservative-led government has taken a hard line on Afghan asylum seekers and refugees within the European Union, with the interior minister initially saying Austria should keep deporting rejected asylum seekers back to Afghanistan for as long as possible. Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer has since conceded that that is no longer possible, but said he wants "deportation centres" set up in neighbouring countries that would take them in. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told the Kronen Zeitung newspaper that his government would be willing to accept such deportees.