FILE PHOTO: People board a Qatar Airways plane, with federal police vehicles in front, at Leipzig Halle airport on July 18, 2025. - dpa
BERLIN: Germany is close to reaching an agreement with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban that would allow for the deportations of rejected Afghan asylum seekers, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Monday (Oct 20).
Dobrindt said negotiations were "very advanced" and included options for deportations not only on chartered aircraft but also via commercial flights.
"We are close to a conclusion, so we assume that these options for deportations to Afghanistan will become a regular occurrence in the future," he told reporters in Munich.
The talks are politically sensitive, as Berlin has no formal diplomatic relations with the hardline Taliban, who have ruled Afghanistan since seizing power in August 2021.
The Islamists remain internationally isolated due to its human rights record, particularly its restrictions on women and girls.
Since the Taliban takeover, Germany has carried out two deportation flights to Afghanistan with Qatar’s assistance. Berlin said all of those Afghan deportees had criminal records.
Dobrindt said similar negotiations were under way with Syria but were "not quite there yet." A delegation from the interior ministry had already held talks with Syrian officials, he added.
Germany's moves come amid broader EU debate on returning Afghan nationals. Last week, 20 European countries urged the European Commission to expand the bloc’s ability to deport Afghans without residence rights.
In a letter published by the Dutch government, the states - including Germany - noted that while 22,870 Afghans in the EU received return orders last year, only 435 were actually sent back. The signatories called for voluntary and forced returns to Afghanistan to be treated as a "shared responsibility" at EU level. - dpa
