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German states rebel against federal government over deportations

Angela Merkel's government has promised to send rejected asylum seekers home, but some local states aren't cooperating. Schleswig-Holstein, for example, has temporarily halted all deportations to Afghanistan. Schleswig-Holstein will not be sending anyone back to Afghanistan for at least until May 31, the northern German state announced on Tuesday. Schleswig-Holstein's Social Democrat (SPD) Interior Minister Stefan Studt said that the state government was taking the step for "humanitarian reasons" because deportees weren't guaranteed "security and dignity" in Afghanistan. Some 700 Afghans with no right of residence currently reside in the northern German state. Responsibility for deporting people whose applications for asylum have been rejected  or have no right to reside in Germany rests with the country's 16 federal states, and Schleswig-Holstein's decision underscores the conflict between local and national authorities on the issue. Ear