Germany on Friday deported migrants from Afghanistan back to their home country for the first time since the Taliban seized power.
The early-morning flight took “convicted criminals who had no right to stay in Germany” back to Afghanistan, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's spokesman said.
Flight trackers showed a Qatar Airways plane heading from Leipzig to Kabul. There were 28 Afghans on board.
Deportations to Afghanistan were suspended in August 2021, just days before the Taliban's seizure of Kabul and the chaotic Nato withdrawal.
But Mr Scholz's government is under massive pressure to get tough on asylum, as the far right heads for victory with an anti-immigration message in regional elections on Sunday.
“In view of the well-known difficult conditions, Germany asked key regional partners for support to make deportation possible,” said his spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit.
“The security interests of Germany clearly outweigh the interest in protecting criminals and dangerous people,” Mr Hebestreit said.
He did not identify the regional partners, but Qatar has acted as a mediator for countries in Europe that have no formal relations with the Taliban.
Deportees on the charter flight included Afghans convicted of attempted homicide and violence against women. One was the subject of more than 160 criminal complaints, authorities said.
State governments who have begged Berlin to ease pressure on asylum accommodation welcomed the flight, which comes despite strong German criticism of the human rights situation in Afghanistan.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock last week described the Taliban's latest law restricting women's rights as "almost 100 pages of misogyny".
Official figures show almost 14,000 Afghans in Germany lack any legal protection, although many have a “toleration” status that means their deportation is not possible.
Only about 600 are regarded as immediately deportable, which can include those sent back to other European countries where they filed asylum claims.
Mr Scholz's government also hopes to resume deportations to Syria, which have not taken place for years due to the civil war that began in 2011.
Asylum debate
Pressure for a stricter asylum policy was brought to a head last week when a Syrian man was arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing of three people at a festival in Solingen, western Germany.
The suspect was remanded in custody on suspicion of murder and membership of ISIS, among other charges, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office said.
The far-right Alternative for Germany is campaigning for “remigration” in the two elections in the former East Germany on Sunday, which polls suggest it will win.
Ministers on Thursday announced a new package of policies including stripping people of asylum if they take holidays in their home country.
Bernd Baumann, the leader of the AfD in parliament, said the Afghan deportation flight was a sign of “panic and desperation” on the eve of the elections.
“It is the right measure, but a flight should be taking off every day,” he told German television.
Amnesty International criticised the flight, warning ministers not to "drift into hostility to human rights" during an election campaign. Mr Scholz's Green party coalition partners played down the prospect of sweeping deportations, saying "law-abiding people" would be safe in Germany.
Germany – along with Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Greece and the Netherlands – had held out until the last moment in stopping Afghan deportations in August 2021.
A flight was due to take off only 10 days before the Taliban entered Kabul, but was cancelled due to explosions in the capital.
Only on August 11, four days before Afghan president Ashraf Ghani fled the country, did Germany's Interior Ministry announce a halt.
