But he sought to play down the issue, saying that "if one looks at other flights, the numbers are always below that of the planning figure". "There are always a few who don't turn up because of different reasons - health reasons, successful applications for urgent rights protection of which there are three cases here. "That's why the government has initiated several measures, including for example no longer announcing such flights in advance," added the spokesman. Nearly 80 Afghans, all men, have so far been sent back after their asylum applications were rejected by the German government. But the government has faced opposition from several regional state governments against sending Afghan nationals back to an increasingly dangerous environment.

Source: The Local February 25, 2017 10:57 UTC