There will be deportations of criminals and dangerous individuals to Syria and Afghanistan “very soon”. This was announced by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Thursday evening in the “Tagesthemen” program. Just a few hours later, at 6:56 a.m. on Friday morning, a plane took off from Leipzig for the Afghan capital Kabul. On board: 28 Afghan criminals. For the first time since the radical Islamist Taliban seized power in August 2021, the federal government is deporting criminals to Afghanistan.
The Mirror was the first to report on the deportation. Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit confirmed after the plane took off: All of those deported were convicted criminals “who had no right to stay in Germany and against whom deportation orders had been issued.”
:How is Germany dealing with migration?
It is not just since the attack in Solingen that immigration has polarized the country and presented the country with major challenges. How many are coming, how many are leaving? Who is getting protection? Who is committing crimes? A collection of facts.
The Federal Ministry of the Interior was responsible for organizing the campaign, reports the MirrorThe Chancellery and the interior authorities of numerous federal states had been preparing the deportations for two months. Those required to leave the country were brought to Leipzig during the night, some from prison. Before the flight, each of them received a cash payment of 1,000 euros. A doctor was also on board.
This was preceded by months of secret negotiations with the Taliban, writes the Mirror. However, not directly, but via the Emirate of Qatar as an intermediary. The detour removed the “most important obstacle” to the deportations. In the Foreign Ministry in particular, there was resistance to direct negotiations with the Taliban, even though the political will to deport was there. Due to the “difficult framework conditions,” according to government spokesman Hebestreit, Germany had “asked key regional partners for support to make the repatriation possible.”
Human rights violations threaten under Taliban rule
Critics believe that deportations to Afghanistan are incompatible with the Basic Law because the crisis-ridden country is at risk of human rights violations under Taliban rule. Hebestreit, on the other hand, said: “Germany’s security interests clearly outweigh the interest in protecting criminals and dangerous individuals.”
The debate about deportations to Afghanistan and Syria gained momentum following the knife attacks in Mannheim in May and Solingen a week ago. In the most recent attack, the perpetrator killed three people and injured eight others. A 26-year-old man from Syria, who came to Germany as a refugee via Bulgaria, is suspected of the crime.