Germany deports 23 Afghan men to Kabul
Germany deported 23 Afghan men on a Kabul-bound charter flight Tuesday, with the government saying most of those aboard were offenders convicted of violent crimes.
Video published by Bild daily showed the men entering a plane at Leipzig airport before dawn, as several protesters in the terminal held up a banner that read “Stop Deportations – Refugees Welcome.”
Germany has accepted millions of refugees and other asylum seekers over the past decade, but Chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to reverse the trend and stepped up border checks and deportations.
Regarding Afghans, Berlin has prioritized deporting criminal offenders, but in July sent back a first Afghan citizen without a criminal record whose asylum application had been rejected.
The interior ministry said on X that “this morning, 23 Afghan men required to leave the country were deported to Kabul on a charter flight.
“The individuals are largely offenders convicted of serious crimes, including sexual offences and causing bodily injury.”
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt added that “our society has a clear interest in ensuring that criminal offenders leave our country.
He also stressed that “anyone who has no right of residence in Germany must expect to leave the country. We are consistently implementing this course of action.”
AFP has asked the interior ministry how many of the 23 Afghan men were convicted offenders, without immediately receiving a response.
The German government does not formally recognize the Taliban, who seized power in Kabul five years ago, but has nonetheless negotiated with Kabul on the deportations.
Merz has said he hopes a tougher immigration policy will help his CDU/CSU alliance – to which Dobrindt also belongs – see off the rising threat of the far-right Alternative for Germany.
Human rights groups criticize the deportations to Afghanistan, where the Taliban authorities impose their law, with girls’ education stopping at age 12 and several restrictions focused on women.
The activist group Alliance Against Deportations said about 50 people came to the airport protest against the flight, which it labelled “extremely dangerous” for those on board.
“People from Afghanistan seeking protection here are being deported to the Taliban regime where they face exclusion, torture or even death,” its spokesman Kai Adeel said in comments to AFP.
With AFP
