Germany Detains and Deport Afghan Migrants Without Criminal Records, Report Finds

A German publication has reported that the German federal government, contrary to its official stance of deporting “criminal migrants,” is holding several Afghan migrants without criminal records in special detention centers and is preparing to deport them back to Afghanistan.

The magazine “taz” identified at least five Afghan citizens with no criminal convictions who are being held in deportation centers. According to the publication, four of them are imprisoned in the state of Bavaria and one in the state of Hesse. Additionally, a sixth individual who was temporarily detained in a detention center in Lower Saxony, according to the local Refugee Council, was released on Tuesday.

The report states that among these six individuals, two were returned to Germany under so-called “Dublin” cases, while four others were detained by federal police upon re-entry into the country. taz emphasized that these individuals are neither criminals nor security threats, yet the German government intends to deport them to Afghanistan. The Federal Ministry of the Interior has not commented on this matter so far.

Germany resumed deportations of migrants to Afghanistan after the Taliban’s return to power in late 2024. The first group of 28 people was deported in August of the same year through mediation by Qatar, but afterward, flights were conducted directly using charter planes to Kabul.

So far, a total of 215 individuals have been returned to Afghanistan in five flight rounds. The German government has stated each time that the deportees were convicted of serious crimes such as sexual assault, murder, security threats, and drug-related offenses—claims that the recent taz report has challenged in some cases.

Three weeks ago, a charter flight deporting 30 migrants was carried out in a single day at a cost of 350,000 euros, accompanied by 92 police officers.

Deporting Afghan migrants to a country governed by the Taliban, faced with deep economic crises and extensive human rights restrictions, has always raised concerns among migrant rights organizations. The new report about the detention of individuals without criminal records has further expanded these concerns.