The Pulse | Diplomacy | South Asia

Germany’s Deportation of an Afghan Without Criminal Record Sets a New Precedent

Germany stepped up its deportations of Afghan nationals even as critics take aim at its interactions with the Taliban regime.

In August 2024, Germany became the first European country to deport Afghan nationals to Afghanistan since the Taliban’s takeover. The deportation process was facilitated by Qatar. This happened after Germany’s “Traffic Light Coalition” government decided to change the rules to deport foreign nationals found guilty of serious crimes, a policy shift motivated by a deadly knife attack on a police officer in Mannheim.

At the time, Germany’s then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Germany would not tolerate religious extremists or criminals who exploit the country’s laws protecting refugees. He added, “Such criminals should be deported even if they come from Syria and Afghanistan. Serious criminals and terrorists have no place here. In such cases the security interests of Germany outweigh the perpetrator’s interests in protection.” 

In the first deportation, 28 Afghan nationals with criminal records were deported to Afghanistan. Since then Germany has expedited its deportation process – and expanded the scope beyond “criminals and terrorists.”

Last week, Germany deported an Afghan national without a criminal record for the first time since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. The Afghan national had attempted to settle in another European country but was found to be illegally living there. He was transferred back to Germany and deported to Afghanistan by plane with 30 other deportees; all of the other deportees had criminal convictions. 

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that the man had become eligible for deportation after his ⁠asylum claim was denied. The minister told journalists, according to Deutsche Welle’s summary, that “anyone who has gone through an asylum process resulting in a rejection is therefore required to leave the country and must expect deportation if they do not depart voluntarily.” He called it a “shift in migration policy” marked by “control, a clear course, and a firm stance.” However, the deportation of an Afghan national without a criminal record sparked strong opposition from human rights groups.

When the deportation occurred, around 260 people attended a protest at the airport’s departure gate. Luca Müller, the spokesperson for the group behind the demonstration, argued that Germany’s government was “supporting the Islamist Taliban through its deals.” Both the political opposition and human rights organizations have accused the German government of legitimizing the de facto Taliban rule in Afghanistan in the name of facilitating deportations.

Responding to similar accusations in Germany’s Parliament from The Greens, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz rejected criticism that Germany’s engagement with the Taliban amounts to normalizing relations with them. He said that “any cooperation is limited to technical matters and serves Germany’s national interests.” He further stressed that “we are not normalizing this regime.” 

However, Merz also highlighted that “diplomatic relations exist between states, not between governments. And there have always been diplomatic relations with Afghanistan.”

In July 2025, the German government announced that it had permitted two Taliban envoys to enter Germany in order to facilitate the deportation of Afghan nationals with criminal records. This was the first time that Taliban officials were allowed to enter any major Western country since the group’s forceful takeover of........

© The Diplomat