German Interior Minister Seeks Direct Deportation Agreement with Taliban-led Afghanistan

In an interview with Focus magazine, Dobrindt revealed that Germany is seeking to bypass third-party intermediaries and establish direct talks with the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan to enable the repatriation of Afghan nationals. This comes after Germany resumed deportations of convicted Afghan criminals in August 2023, following a pause after the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021.

Germany does not recognize the Taliban government as legitimate and has no official diplomatic ties with it. Currently, Berlin relies on “key regional partners” to facilitate deportations. However, Dobrindt argued that this arrangement is not sustainable.

“My idea is that we make agreements directly with Afghanistan to enable repatriations,” Dobrindt said. “We still need third parties to conduct talks with Afghanistan. This cannot remain a permanent solution.”

Dobrindt, a member of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), emphasized the need for a more streamlined process. Merz had previously pledged to deport individuals to Afghanistan and Syria as part of the conservatives’ election platform, which also included halting refugee admission programs for former local staff of German agencies in Afghanistan and suspending family reunification.

Migration has been a central issue in German politics, particularly after the rise of the far-right and several high-profile attacks by migrants. In 2024, Syrians and Afghans were the two largest groups of asylum seekers in Germany, with 76,765 Syrians and 34,149 Afghans applying for asylum, according to federal migration office figures.

Dobrindt also mentioned that Germany is in contact with Syria, where the government has consolidated power following the fall of long-time leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2023, to reach an agreement on deporting criminals of Syrian nationality.