Germany deports 28 Afghan nationals to their homeland, the first since the Taliban takeover in 2021

BERLIN (AP) — Germany deported Afghan nationals to their homeland on Friday for the first time since August 2021 when the Taliban returned to power.

Government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit described the 28 Afghan nationals as convicted criminals but did not clarify their offenses.

“The security interests of Germany clearly outweigh the claim for protection of criminals and individuals endangering national security,” Hebestreit said in a statement.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, speaking near Leipzig during a local election campaign event Friday, called it “a clear sign that those who commit crimes cannot count on us not deporting them, but that we will look for ways to do so.”

German news agency dpa reported, citing information from the federal states involved in the deportations, that the offenses included rape, serious arson and manslaughter.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called the move a security issue for Germany.

“You have seen that we have enforced the law and deported criminals back to Afghanistan,” she said during a news conference Friday afternoon. “In my view, this is necessary to maintain trust in the rule of law.”

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However, Julia Duchrow, secretary general of Amnesty International in Germany, blasted the deportations. In a statement Friday, she said the government bowed to political pressure during an election campaign. She added that Afghanistan is not safe and alleged that the deportations violate international law.

Berlin does not have diplomatic relations with the Taliban, requiring the government to work through other channels. It’s unlikely that Friday’s actions will lead to a wider thawing of relations between Germany and the Taliban, especially after last week’s issuing of the first set of laws to prevent vice and promote virtue in Afghanistan. They include a requirement for a woman to conceal her face, body and voice outside the home.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has slammed the morality laws in posts on X.

While Hebestreit said the deportations have been in the works for months, they occurred a week after a deadly knife attack in the town of Solingen in which the suspect is a Syrian citizen who had applied for asylum in Germany.

The suspect was supposed to be deported to Bulgaria last year but reportedly disappeared for a time and avoided deportation. He was ordered to be held Sunday on suspicion of murder and membership of a terrorist organization pending further investigation and a possible indictment.

The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for last Friday’s attack, without providing evidence. The extremist group said on its news site that the attacker targeted Christians and that he carried out the assaults “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.” The claim couldn’t be independently verified.

There has also been debate over immigration ahead of regional elections Sunday in the German states of Saxony and Thuringia, where anti-immigration parties such as the populist Alternative for Germany are expected to do well. In June, Scholz vowed that the country would start deporting criminals from Afghanistan and Syria again after a knife attack by an Afghan immigrant left one police officer dead and four more people wounded.

Faeser on Thursday announced a plan to tighten knife laws, according to German news agency dpa. Along with other officials in the governing coalition, she also pledged during a news conference to make deportations easier.