Germany Says Deportations of Afghans Are Not Limited to People With Criminal Records
BAREEN Media – Germany’s Federal Ministry of the Interior says deportations of Afghan nationals are not legally limited to people with criminal convictions.
The ministry said that Afghans who are legally required to leave Germany can be returned on a case-by-case basis, provided there are no legal grounds preventing the deportation. The government has previously said deportations to Afghanistan would begin with convicted offenders and people considered security threats, but would not necessarily be limited to those groups.
According to figures reported by Deutsche Welle, German states had referred around 488 Afghan nationals to the Federal Police for deportation procedures over a period of more than 10 weeks. Of 267 people for whom police assistance was requested between July 8 and September 18, 55 percent had no criminal convictions, the report said.
Germany has resumed deportations to Afghanistan. The Federal Government reported that 87 people were deported to Afghanistan between January 1 and June 19, 2026, while its coalition agreement provides for deportations to Afghanistan, initially focusing on offenders and people considered security risks.
The German government says each case must be assessed individually, including possible risks to the person in Afghanistan.
