Germany has once again deported around 30 Afghan asylum seekers on a charter flight from Leipzig/Halle Airport to Kabul. According to German authorities, the operation was carried out in coordination with the Taliban administration, and all of the deported individuals were men.
According to officials, the flight included Afghan nationals who had been identified for deportation by various federal states in Germany. It is reported that some of the individuals had been convicted of crimes such as rape, murder, and sexual assault.
The individuals were collected from the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein, Bavaria, Lower Saxony, and Baden-Württemberg. The aircraft departed at night from Leipzig/Halle Airport bound for Kabul.
Meanwhile, around 35 people gathered at the airport terminal to protest the measure.
Reports indicate that the legal and administrative basis for these deportations is an agreement between the German government and the Taliban, under which Germany can directly return Afghan asylum seekers to Afghanistan without the need for a transit country.
In April of this year, Germany also sent 25 Afghan asylum seekers to Kabul on a charter flight. Prior to that, in 2024, 28 Afghan men were deported from Leipzig to Kabul with the assistance of Qatar, although Germany later began conducting both individual and group deportations independently.
Critics argue that Germany, on the one hand, does not recognize the Taliban due to human rights violations, but on the other hand engages in technical and political cooperation with them for practical reasons. The acceptance of a limited number of Taliban diplomats for Afghan embassies is also seen as part of this engagement.
Germany’s Interior Minister, Alexander Dobrindt, stated that priority will be given to individuals considered criminals or security threats, but added that these deportations may be expanded further in the future.
Writer:Saeed Sameer
