BERLIN — Germany’s Interior Ministry has identified 488 Afghan nationals as candidates for deportation to Afghanistan, and the vast majority — 267 of them — have no criminal convictions, according to figures made public this week.
The numbers surfaced in a written government response to a question submitted by Left Party lawmaker Clara Bünger, and were subsequently reported by German media on Saturday. The data reflects deportation cases forwarded by Germany’s state governments to the Federal Police between mid-July and late September. Nearly every federal state took part in submitting cases during that window, with only Bremen and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern abstaining.
Separately, the ministry said seven Afghan nationals are currently held in deportation detention at the Federal Police’s request, with one additional person in custody pending an entry-refusal decision.
The disclosure comes as Berlin steadily broadens its approach to removing Afghan nationals following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has signaled that deportations should no longer be confined to individuals with criminal records or those flagged as security risks — a notable departure from the government’s earlier, narrower approach.
Germany’s deportation flights to Afghanistan were halted after the 2021 Taliban takeover amid concerns about safety and humanitarian conditions there, only resuming in 2024 and initially targeting Afghans with serious criminal convictions. This past July, however, Germany carried out its first removal of an Afghan national with no criminal record since the Taliban returned to power, according to Reuters reporting. The Interior Ministry says roughly 250 Afghan nationals have been deported since the current coalition government took office.
The expanding policy has drawn pushback from opposition politicians and refugee-rights organizations. Bünger argued that Germany is moving toward removing people who have committed no offense to a country still governed by the Taliban, pointing to ongoing violence, poverty, and human rights violations as reasons Afghanistan remains unsafe for returnees.
International bodies have echoed similar concerns. The United Nations and various human rights groups have repeatedly warned against forced returns to Afghanistan, citing restrictions imposed on women and girls, arbitrary detentions, the targeting of journalists and activists, and a humanitarian crisis that continues to grip the country. Adding to the legal pressure on Berlin, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court has previously sided with Afghan applicants in certain humanitarian admission cases.
As Germany’s government pushes to tighten immigration enforcement more broadly, its Afghan deportation policy has become an increasingly contentious front — caught between domestic political pressure to reduce migration numbers and the country’s continuing legal obligations under international and European refugee and human rights frameworks.