The German Interior Ministry is currently in discussions with the Taliban to develop a framework for regular deportations to Afghanistan, according to reports from Bild. These discussions, which have already included meetings in Qatar and a planned delegation to Kabul, seek to make the deportation process more frequent and structured, transitioning from irregular charter flights to regular scheduled departures. The initiative comes after the lifting of the deportation ban in 2024, following a violent incident in Solingen, where a Syrian national was linked to a stabbing that killed three and injured eight. Data suggests that Afghan nationals have been involved in a significant number of crimes in Germany, prompting the government’s move towards more systematic deportations.
Germany introduced a ban on deportations to Afghanistan in 2021 as the Taliban seized power in the wake of a hasty US withdrawal. Last year, the ban was lifted, but deportations remained sparse. Berlin sent 28 Afghans to their homeland on a charter flight in late August 2024 and 81 on another flight in July 2025. All of them were convicted criminals, according to Bild.
Now, the government wants to make deportations “significantly easier, more regular, and more massive,” according to the report. It also wants to switch from charter flights to scheduled ones. In early September, a German Interior Ministry delegation met with Taliban representatives in Qatar, Bild has learned. The ministry also plans to send officials to Kabul for further talks, according to the media outlet.
German officials have not confirmed any official contacts with the interim Taliban government and have not commented on the report so far.
The decision to reverse the ban on deportations was made in the wake of a stabbing at a street festival in the city of Solingen in August 2024, when three people were killed and eight others injured. A Syrian national was arrested in connection with the incident.
According to Bild, Afghans are also responsible for a significant number of crimes in Germany. The police reported a total of 108,409 serious crimes involving at least one Afghan national between 2015 and 2024, according to the government data available to the media outlet.
Some 461,000 people of Afghan descent were living in Germany as of late 2024, including 347,600 asylum seekers, Bild reported. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) also reported this summer that some 11,500 Afghans residing in Germany had no right to stay and were subject to deportation.