Austria’s decision to deport a convicted rapist to Afghanistan has provoked criticism from Amnesty International, which called the move a “betrayal of human rights,” while the nationalist Freedom Party (FPÖ) accused the NGO of “perpetrator worship.”

The deportation, carried out on Oct. 21, was Austria’s first to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan since the terror group took power in 2021. The 31-year-old Afghan man, convicted in Austria of rape and grievous bodily harm, was deported from Vienna via Istanbul to Kabul, accompanied by Austrian police officers. According to the interior ministry, the operation was coordinated directly with Afghan authorities, following months of preparatory talks in both capitals.

Amnesty International denounced the move as a “clear violation of human rights,” accusing Interior Minister Gerhard Karner of the center-right Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) of pushing “deportation fantasies” and undermining Austria’s legal obligations. Aimée Stuflesser, the NGO’s asylum spokesperson, said, “Politics that deport responsibility is giving itself up! Anyone who extradites people to a state that commits crimes against its population is breaking the law. This betrayal of human rights must be stopped immediately!”

The interior ministry rejected the criticism, saying Austria would continue to deport convicted criminals regardless of conditions in their home countries. Karner said similar deportations to Syria and Somalia had already taken place, adding that Austria would “not offer safe haven to violent offenders.”

Chancellor Christian Stocker backed the decision, saying in a post on X that “those who do not abide by our rules must leave,” calling it a “clear message from Austria: zero tolerance for those who have forfeited their right to stay through criminal acts.”

The FPÖ, the Austrian parliament’s largest party, applauded the expulsion, but questioned the government’s newfound commitment to dealing with foreign criminals. It sharply condemned Amnesty International and other NGOs opposing the move, with FPÖ General Secretary and homeland security spokesman Michael Schnedlitz calling Amnesty’s protest “an unbelievable and perverse act of perpetrator worship.”

“If an NGO has a problem with a convicted rapist having to leave our country, then this organization clearly also has a problem with our constitutional state and our laws,” Schnedlitz said. “This is a mockery of the victims and a slap in the face of our society. Anyone who murders, rapes, or robs here has forfeited their right of hospitality.”

He went further, accusing the ÖVP of hypocrisy for funding NGOs it now criticizes. “The ÖVP is now crying crocodile tears and criticizing a problem it itself created and financed,” he said. “For years, it has developed an asylum industry with taxpayer money, which is now working with all its might against the interests of Austrians.”

According to public broadcaster ORF, the deported man had completed a four-year prison sentence before being returned to Afghanistan. The interior ministry confirmed that additional deportations of convicted offenders are being prepared, describing them as necessary to protect public safety.

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