Germany has resumed deportations to Afghanistan for the first time since 2024, sending 81 convicted Afghan nationals back to the Taliban-controlled country on July 18, according to Euractiv.
The deportation flight, which departed from Leipzig in the morning, marked only the second such operation since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. It was carried out with logistical support from Qatar, given Berlin’s lack of diplomatic relations with the Islamist regime.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz defended the decision, stating that all deportees were rejected asylum-seekers convicted of serious crimes.
“We have included plans for such an approach in our coalition treaty, and it has now been completed for the first time today,” Merz said during a press conference.
He added that negotiations for the operation had taken four weeks.
The move follows repeated calls by Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt for direct engagement with the Taliban to enable regular deportations. While human rights organizations and UN agencies criticized the approach, citing widespread rights abuses and instability in Afghanistan, Merz stressed that Germany would only maintain "technical coordination" with the Taliban, not formal diplomatic ties.
The deportation aligns with a broader push by Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and Dobrindt’s Christian Social Union (CSU) for stricter asylum and migration policies. These include expanded deportations to countries like Afghanistan and Syria, following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the rise of a rebel-led government in Damascus last December.
Public debate over migration policy has intensified in Germany, especially after several violent incidents involving rejected asylum seekers in the months leading up to the February national elections.
Germany is not alone in this shift. Austria recently became the first EU country to resume deportations to Syria, signaling a potential trend across Europe toward tougher migration enforcement.
Tajikistan has reportedly intensified its crackdown on Afghan migrants, detaining and deporting many with as little as 15 days' notice. Afghan residents in the country say the arrests have surged recently, especially in areas surrounding the capital, Dushanbe. In particular, dozens of Afghan men—often the main breadwinners of their families—have been detained without warning in Vahdat Township and Rudaki District and forcibly sent back to Afghanistan.
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