Germany set to deport convicted Afghans ahead of elections

At the end of August last year, Germany deported 28 people to Afghanistan for the first time since the Taliban took control of the country. The Ministry of the Interior has announced that another deportation is expected soon, confirming reports from the newspaper "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" (SZ). Germany will deport individuals convicted of crimes and those considered dangerous.

According to the SZ, the German Ministry of the Interior is already organizing a second deportation flight to Afghanistan. The newspaper cites a letter from the ministry to the Bavarian authorities indicating that at least one person will be deported "within the next six weeks (by February 22, 2025)."

This means that the plane carrying deported Afghans will depart Germany shortly before the parliamentary elections on February 23. This timing could raise suspicions that the deportations are intended to boost the ratings of the ruling parties directly before the elections.

Migration policy is indeed a central topic of the election campaign—especially after the recent knife attack in Aschaffenburg, in which two people died, including a two-year-old child. The perpetrator is a 28-year-old man from Afghanistan who should have been deported from Germany. After the attack, he was placed in a psychiatric facility.

The Ministry of the Interior in Berlin has dismissed any suggestions that the planned deportations are timed to coincide with the parliamentary elections. As reported by the media, a spokesperson for the ministry stated that deportation measures to Afghanistan are entirely unrelated to the specified date.

The spokesman explained that deportations are carried out only when all legal, factual, and logistical requirements are met. This depends on many external factors in Afghanistan, such as cooperation with third countries, flight permits, and other circumstances.