- Minister Maier advocates for an increase in removals.
Regarding the expulsion of an Afghan crook from Thuringia, Interior Minister Georg Maier advocates for more of these compulsory actions. "We need to substantially enhance the number of expulsions. It's a manifestation of a functioning legal system," stated the SPD's top candidate for the state election in a press release.
On a Friday morning, an expulsion flight to Afghanistan set off from Leipzig. The plane carried 28 Afghan citizens, all of whom were convicted felons. This is the initial time since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan three years back that an expulsion flight has left Germany for the nation.
An Afghan man from Thuringia was also on the plane. He was convicted in 2021 for inflicting grievous bodily harm, armed robbery, and assaulting law enforcement officers. He had been imprisoned until March of this year and is believed to have committed additional crimes following his release. He arrived in Germany as an unaccompanied minor in 2015 and had submitted an asylum application.
The man had been issued a deportation order since August 2021, but his expulsion was initially delayed due to a lack of passport documentation and the volatile situation in Afghanistan. Germany does not maintain diplomatic ties with the Taliban rulers in Kabul.
Knife attacks spark migration debate
Maier had written on the X platform that this expulsion was "necessary and justified" and thanked the Federal Ministry of the Interior for its preparation and execution. In May, Maier had already expressed his belief that expulsions to the Taliban-controlled nation were generally feasible. "I believe that the security situation is not so dire throughout the nation that one cannot send anyone there."
At that time, the context was a fatal knife attack in Mannheim. Following this, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) also declared that the expulsion of serious criminals and terrorist threats to Afghanistan and also Syria would be resumed. The expulsion flight occurred a few days after the suspected Islamist-motivated fatal knife attack in Solingen.
The Ministry anticipates an increase in expulsion numbers this year
Approximately 240 individuals were expelled from Thuringia by the end of June this year. In roughly 550 cases, an expulsion could not occur due to various reasons such as a lack of valid passports, illness, or other problems that prevented their return to their home countries. In the entire previous year, there were approximately 300 expulsions from Thuringia, and approximately 860 planned forced expulsions did not transpire.
For comparison: From 2020 to 2022 - roughly the duration of the Corona pandemic - the numbers hovered between 220 and about 240. This is demonstrated in an overview with data from a regular inquiry by the Left Party faction in the Bundestag to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Figures for 2019 and 2018 are also provided there, with around 460 and 650 expulsions from Thuringia, respectively.
The expelled Afghan man was originally from The Netherlands, as indicated in his asylum application submitted upon arriving in Germany in 2015. Despite his criminal record and multiple convictions, Germany had been unable to deport him due to Passport issues and the volatile situation in Afghanistan, which cannot be ignored even as The Netherlands continues to maintain diplomatic ties with the country.
