Germany Deports 31 Afghans in Night Flight, Including First Non-Criminal Since Taliban Takeover

The flight

The charter aircraft departed Leipzig/Halle airport in the night to Tuesday with 31 Afghan nationals aboard. According to Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, 30 were convicted of serious crimes, including murder, rape and violent offences. The remaining passenger had no criminal record but was legally required to leave Germany after his asylum application failed. He had previously sought shelter in another European country, was returned to Germany, and was then placed on the deportation list. At Kabul airport, families waited as officials told them the deportees would undergo Taliban-run procedures, including interrogations, before a possible release against family guarantees.

Expanding the criteria

The flight implements a new decree issued in early July that lifts the earlier restriction to convicted criminals and security threats. The updated criteria now target adult males who are single and subject to enforceable departure orders, regardless of any criminal record. Saxony's interior minister Armin Schuster said the circle is being extended to all offenders and to those who have shown no integration effort, receive welfare, or fail to cooperate in establishing their identity. Dobrindt defended the broader scope:

“We have informed the federal states in recent weeks that deportations of persons required to leave the country to Afghanistan will also be possible in the future when we are not dealing exclusively with the most serious criminals.”

Political backlash

The inclusion of a non-offender triggered sharp criticism from the opposition Greens. Parliamentary group spokesman Marcel Emmerich said:

“It is irresponsible that Alexander Dobrindt is now deporting people to Afghanistan who have not been guilty of anything at all.”

Emmerich added that the deal struck with the Taliban for deportations strengthens the radical Islamist group, makes Germany blackmailable, and weakens the country's own security. Within the ruling coalition, SPD migration expert Hakan Demir described the expansion as legally and humanely extremely difficult and announced talks with the CDU/CSU. The tension echoes a cancelled deportation flight in early June, when the Taliban refused to cooperate after expressing dissatisfaction with what they saw as insufficient diplomatic engagement from the German foreign ministry.

The Taliban agreement

The deportations rest on a direct arrangement with the Taliban government, enabling regular returns without intermediary states. Critics note the contradiction of relying on a regime that the German government does not formally recognise, while making practical concessions such as permitting individual Taliban-nominated diplomats at Afghan missions in Germany. Dobrindt insisted the Taliban are obliged to receive their citizens: "That is the agreement reached with those responsible in Afghanistan." Hesse's interior minister Roman Poseck confirmed four of the deportees came from his state, convicted of bodily harm, rape, theft, and aiding a robbery; eight came from Bavaria.

Government defence

Dobrindt framed the flight as part of a determined migration turnaround, pursued, he said, "with control, course, and clear edge." He signalled that further deportation flights would follow, broadening the pool of eligible returnees beyond the most serious offenders. While protesters gathered at Leipzig airport, the minister stated that he had "very little understanding" for demonstrations against the removal of serious criminals.