The deportations come a week after a deadly knife attack in the town of Solingen which left three people dead and eight others wounded.
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called the return of 28 Afghan nationals to Afghanistan a “clear sign” that foreign-born criminals won’t be spared deportation.
A government spokesperson said on Friday that the Afghan citizens were all “convicted criminals” but did not respond to a request for comment to clarify their offences.
“We prepared this carefully without talking much about it because such a project only succeeds if you make an effort, if you do it carefully and very discreetly,” Scholz said.
“I would therefore like to thank everyone who has helped to make this happen. And it is a clear sign that those who commit crimes cannot count on us not deporting them, but that we will look for ways to do so.”
It’s the first time Germany has deported Afghan nationals to their homeland since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
Germany does not have diplomatic relations with the group, which required the government to work through other channels to organise the deportations.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the removals were a security issue for Germany.
They come a week after a deadly knife attack in the town of Solingen which left three people dead and eight others seriously wounded.
The suspect, named by prosecutors as Issa Al H., is a Syrian citizen who had applied for asylum in Germany.
He was supposed to be deported to Bulgaria last year but reportedly disappeared to avoid deportation.
He was arrested on suspicion of murder and membership in a terrorist organisation pending further investigation and a possible indictment.
The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for last Friday’s attack, without providing evidence.
The group said on its Amaq news site that the attacker targeted Christians and that he carried out the assaults “to avenge Muslims in Palestine.”
In June, Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed that the country would start deporting criminals from Afghanistan and Syria again after a knife attack by an Afghan immigrant left one police officer dead and four more people injured in Frankfurt.
On Thursday, Faeser announced plans to tighten knife laws, according to German news agency dpa. Along with other officials in the governing coalition, she also pledged during a news conference to make deportations easier.
