Germany deports 40 convicted Afghan men to Kabul on charter flight from Leipzig

The charter flight

A charter aircraft carrying 40 Afghan men took off from Leipzig/Halle airport and landed in Kabul on Wednesday, 28 October 2026, according to a spokesperson for the federal interior ministry. The ministry said every man on board had committed criminal offences, including manslaughter, rape, sexual abuse of children, bodily injury and drug trafficking. Ten German states took part in the operation: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. The ministry counts 303 Afghan men deported from Germany since the start of the current legislative term.

Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia

Five of the 40 men had been held in deportation detention at Darmstadt-Eberstadt, the Hesse interior ministry said. Its statement listed convictions for dangerous bodily injury, theft, fraud and unlawful possession of weapons. Hesse interior minister Roman Poseck (CDU) said the state had returned 25 offenders to Afghanistan this year.

“In the first place, criminals and dangerous persons must leave our country. This is about our security.”

In North Rhine-Westphalia, the state ministry told WDR that five people from the state had been returned, all subject to enforceable departure orders and known to police for crimes. Federal police statistics show 18 completed returns to Afghanistan from the state as of 31 August 2026, and the new flight adds to that figure.

Hesse, 2026 so far (Hesse ministry)25

NRW, to 31 August 2026 (Federal Police)18

Hesse, 2026 so far (Hesse ministry)

25 people

NRW, to 31 August 2026 (Federal Police)

18 people

Data from the article text

Federal policy and the Taliban

Germany's first collective deportation of convicted offenders to Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover took place in 2024, organised with support from Qatar. In February 2026 the federal police flew 20 offenders directly to Kabul without help from a third state, under an arrangement with the Taliban. The Taliban have been the de facto rulers of Afghanistan since August 2021. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) told Bild that returns to Afghanistan had become a regular part of migration policy.

“Criminals must leave our country. That is also why returns to Afghanistan are a regular and reliable part of our migration policy.”

Hesse widens the programme and protests

Poseck said Hesse would in future also deport Afghan adults who are obliged to leave but have no criminal conviction, particularly those who are poorly integrated and receive social benefits. He added that the federal government had recently created the conditions for this, while voluntary return would always come first. Hundreds of people demonstrated against deportations at several German airports over the weekend of 24-25 October 2026. Demonstrators criticised the German government's cooperation with the Taliban, which makes returns to Afghanistan possible.