FRANKFURT: Germany said on Friday it has carried out the first deportation of Afghans to their home country since Taliban authorities seized power in August 2021, as Berlin faces pressure to crack down on migration.
“These are Afghan citizens, all convicted criminals who had no right to stay in Germany and against whom deportation orders had been issued,” government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in a statement.
A chartered Qatar Airways flight bound for Kabul took off from Leipzig airport shortly before 0500 GMT with 28 Afghans on board, Der Spiegel magazine reported, citing security sources.
The operation was the result of two months of “secret negotiations” in which Qatar acted as an intermediary between Berlin and the Taliban authorities, Spiegel reported.
Hebestreit said Germany had “asked for support from key regional partners to facilitate deportations,” without giving further details.
Germany completely halted deportations to Afghanistan and closed its embassy in Kabul after the Taliban administration took power in 2021.
Friday's deportation comes as the German government faces growing calls to curb illegal migration and take tougher action against dangerous and convicted asylum seekers, following a series of high-profile crimes committed by suspected migrants.
Germany is still reeling from last week's knife attack at a street festival in the western city of Solingen that left three people dead, allegedly carried out by a 26-year-old Syrian man.
The suspect was supposed to have been deported to Bulgaria weeks ago, but the operation failed because the authorities were unable to locate him.
In May, a 25-year-old Afghan man was charged with killing a police officer in a knife attack on a market square in the city of Mannheim.
The stabbing has shocked Germany and reignited debate over whether serious criminals should be deported even from countries considered unsafe, such as Afghanistan or Syria.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on Thursday that Germany would resume expulsions to Syria and Afghanistan “very soon” as part of a package of measures to strengthen security and asylum policies.
Discontent over immigration is expected to play a key role in two closely watched regional elections in eastern Germany on Sunday, where the far-right AfD party is expected to make big gains.
