Germany has deported 28 Afghans, marking the first such deportation since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, amid ongoing debates on immigration and asylum policies.

In what marks the initial action of its kind since the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan earlier this year, Germany has expelled 28 Afghan citizens who have been accused of committing criminal offenses.

On Friday, Stefan Hebestreit – a spokesperson for the German government – stated that these were convicted criminals of Afghan nationality who had received deportation orders and lacked any rightful claim to remain in Germany.

At 6:56am (04:56 GMT), the Ministry of Interior in Saxony reported that the deportees on board a Qatar Airways charter jet had taken off for Kabul.

All the men on board the flight to Leipzig had been brought in from different parts of Afghanistan. According to sources, it was confirmed by German news agency dpa that none of them were women or children.

“On X, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser expressed gratitude towards federal police and state authorities for their cooperation in ensuring the importance of our security while upholding our constitutional state,” she said.

Due to Germany severing diplomatic relations with the Taliban government after the unexpected power seizure of former President Ashraf Ghani three years ago, alternative channels were required for the government to ensure deportation.

According to Der Spiegel magazine, Qatar facilitated two months of “secret negotiations” as the intermediary leading up to the operation.

Without providing specifics, Hebestreit stated that Germany had solicited assistance from important nearby allies to aid in expediting deportation efforts.

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Although the deportations had allegedly been planned for several months, they coincided with an occurrence in Solingen wherein a Syrian national, who was seeking asylum in Germany, carried out a fatal knife assault.

Despite being scheduled to be deported to Bulgaria in the previous year, it has been reported that the suspect vanished for a period of time and eluded deportation. The attack was claimed by ISIS (ISIL) group who did not offer any substantiated proof.

Faeser announced on Thursday that the government was contemplating fresh actions to enhance weapon regulations, bolster security officials’ abilities, facilitate repatriation processes and diminish “unauthorized migration”.

As regional elections approach in Saxony and Thuringia, where anti-immigration parties like the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) are anticipated to perform strongly, discussions about immigration have been sparked by the Solingen attack.

After a knife attack in Mannheim by an Afghan immigrant that resulted in the death of one police officer and injuries to four individuals, Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged in June for Germany to resume deportation of criminals from Afghanistan and Syria.

During an election campaign event for his centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) near Leipzig, Scholz stated on Friday that it is a definitive indication: individuals who engage in criminal activity cannot expect us to refrain from deporting them.

In 2021, due to the Taliban’s takeover, Germany halted deportations to Afghanistan and shuttered its embassy in Kabul.

Rights groups have extensively denounced the deportations to Afghanistan due to prevalent human rights violations in the country.

Amnesty International in Germany stated that politics is ignoring international laws by deporting “so-called ‘dangerous individuals’ and criminals” to Afghanistan and Syria. They emphasized that everyone has human rights, and it’s not acceptable to send anyone back to a country where there’s potential for torture.

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies