Austria Deports Two Somali Men to Mogadishu in First Forced Returns in 20 Years
MOGADISHU — Two Somali men convicted of drug offenses in Austria were flown to Mogadishu this week, the first deportations from Austria to Somalia in two decades, underscoring a rapidly hardening mood on migration across parts of Europe.
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Austria’s Interior Ministry confirmed the removals, saying the men were returned after serving their prison sentences. In the Somali capital, relatives told BBC Somali Service that they were warned a removal was imminent, but the arrival still felt sudden and disorienting. “There wasn’t much conversation. He didn’t seem stable,” one family member said. “He didn’t come back the same.”
FILE – Backpacks belonging to two African migrants rest at the base of a tree as they sit nearby
Who is being sent back — and why now?
The deportations land amid a spike in Somali asylum claims in Austria and a broader European turn toward faster removals, especially for people with criminal convictions. Between January and July 2025, 648 Somali nationals applied for protection in Austria, placing Somalis among the top three nationalities seeking asylum. Authorities say 44% of cases ended with full refugee status, while hundreds of others received subsidiary protection — a form of limited status that blocks deportation when return would be unsafe — and a dozen were granted humanitarian residence permits.
That many Somalis were recognized in some form is a reminder of Somalia’s continuing fragility, where violence, economic hardship and displacement remain daily realities. But Vienna, in line with several other European capitals, has drawn a sharper distinction: protection for the vulnerable, deportation for those who commit crimes. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner has framed the approach as “strict but fair,” while signaling more returns will follow.
Berlin watching — and moving — too
The Austrian move comes as governments across the continent recalibrate migration policy following election cycles that boosted right-wing and far-right parties. In Germany, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has echoed plans to step up deportations. Austria is also preparing a rare deportation of a Syrian man and has outlined similar plans for Afghan nationals beginning early next year — steps that would test legal and diplomatic boundaries long seen as red lines.
Courts are already pushing back. The European Court of Human Rights recently halted the removal of a Syrian man convicted of multiple crimes, ruling his deportation would expose him to a real risk of serious harm. That judgment underscores the competing forces shaping European policy: promises to get tougher at home, and legal obligations to protect individuals from torture, persecution or inhuman treatment abroad.
On the ground in Mogadishu: quiet reunions, uneasy futures
At Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport, deportation flights do not draw the crowds or cameras that meet celebratory diaspora returns. Family reunions are more often quiet, edged with questions about money, safety, and work. One relative in the Somali capital described a hurried phone call, a dash across town, and a subdued greeting with her brother. “There was no warmth, no happiness,” she said. “He didn’t come back the same.”
Such scenes are becoming more common across parts of Africa and Asia as European states revive bilateral return arrangements and streamline deportation procedures. For returnees who spent formative years abroad, the culture shock can be acute. Jobs are scarce, housing strained, and mental health support limited. For families, the calculus is complicated: They want their loved ones close and safe. But a forced return from Europe often arrives with stigma and few prospects, especially for those who left as teenagers and return as strangers.
Europe’s shifting center of gravity
The Austrian removals fit a wider political pattern. Across Europe, traditional parties — under pressure from movements like Alternative für Deutschland in Germany and the Sweden Democrats — have adopted stricter migration platforms. The slogans vary, but the policies converge: tighter borders, reduced appeal windows for rejected asylum seekers, and more agreements with origin countries to facilitate returns.
Supporters of the approach argue it restores public trust by separating those who merit protection from those who do not — or those who commit serious crimes while in the host country. Critics say the line is blurrier than that, and warn that an enforcement-first posture risks overriding case-by-case realities and fraying obligations under international law, especially in countries still marked by conflict and insecurity.
The legal and moral crossroads
For those watching Europe’s migration debate, the question is not whether deportations will increase — they likely will — but under what rules, safeguards and diplomatic arrangements. Somalia’s security has improved in parts, yet remains volatile in others. That is why so many Somalis in Austria still qualify for protection of one kind or another. When the state deems someone safe to return, do receiving institutions on the ground have the capacity to absorb them? Who follows up after the airport reunion, when the cameras move on?
Lawyers point to the principle of non-refoulement: the obligation not to send someone to a place where they face a real risk of torture or serious harm. The ECHR ruling on the Syrian case reaffirmed that line. But legal thresholds and political promises can collide. Policymakers in Vienna and Berlin are betting that faster removals will deter future journeys and reassure voters. Humanitarian groups counter that people do not cross deserts and seas because of bureaucratic timelines; they move because they believe staying is more dangerous than leaving.
What comes next
- Austria plans more removals in the coming months, including to Syria and Afghanistan — moves likely to draw court challenges.
- Germany and Sweden are preparing parallel crackdowns, including shorter appeal windows and expanded detention prior to removal.
- Bilateral agreements with countries like Somalia are expected to widen, aiming to formalize documentation and reception processes.
- Families in Mogadishu and beyond brace for returnees who may need social support, counseling and jobs that are in short supply.
Migration stories often get told in numbers, and the Austrian figures are stark enough: hundreds of Somali claims this year alone, approval and protection rates that reflect the danger back home. But statistics can hide the moment at the terminal doors — a brother stepping onto hot tarmac after years away; a sister rushing through traffic to meet him. The policy calculus may be “strict but fair.” The human reality is rarely that neat.
As Europe tightens, Somalia and other origin countries will be asked to do more with less: receive, reintegrate, and reassure. The question for policymakers is whether deterrence at one end, and limited support at the other, can ever add up to sustainable migration management. Or whether it simply shifts the weight of the problem onto families like the one waiting in Mogadishu — quietly, anxiously, without the promise that this time, the story will end any better.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
