Germany said Friday it had deported Afghan criminals back to their home country for the first time since Taliban authorities took power in 2021, as Berlin faces pressure to get tougher on migration.
The 28 Afghan nationals were all "convicted offenders who had no right to stay in Germany and against whom deportation orders had been issued", government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in a statement.
A chartered Qatar Airways flight bound for Kabul took off from Leipzig airport just before 0500 GMT with the Afghans on board, Der Spiegel magazine said.
The operation was the result of two months of "secret negotiations" in which Qatar acted as the intermediary between Berlin and the Taliban authorities, Spiegel reported.
Hebestreit only said Germany had "asked key regional partners for support in order to facilitate the deportations".
More such deportations would follow, he said.
Germany completely stopped deportations to Afghanistan and closed its embassy in Kabul after the Taliban took power in August 2021.
Among those sent back Friday was an Afghan man who took part in the gang rape of a 14-year-old girl, and another with over 160 criminal convictions, said the justice ministry of Baden-Wuerttemberg state.
"Our security matters, and our rule of law state is taking action," said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.
Green party co-leader Omid Nouripour welcomed the expulsion of convicted serious criminals, but said it did not signal the start of large-scale deportations to Afghanistan.
"Law-abiding people, especially families and children who have fled from radical Islamists" are protected in Germany, he said.
- Knife attacks -
Berlin faces growing calls to curb illegal migration and take tougher action against dangerous and convicted asylum seekers, following a series of high-profile crimes.
Germany is still reeling from last week's knife attack at a street festival in the western city of Solingen that left three people dead, allegedly committed by a 26-year-old Syrian man with links to the Islamic State group.
The suspect was meant to have been deported to Bulgaria a while back but the operation failed after authorities were unable to locate him.
In May, a 25-year-old Afghan was accused of killing a police officer in a knife attack on a market square in the city of Mannheim.
The stabbing shocked Germany and revived debate about deporting serious criminals even if they come from countries deemed unsafe like Afghanistan or Syria.
Faeser had on Thursday already said deportations to both countries would resume "very soon" as part of a package of measures to tighten security and asylum policies.
Discontent about immigration is expected to play a key role in two closely-watched regional elections in eastern Germany this Sunday, where the far-right AfD party is expected to make big gains.
Rights group Amnesty International sharply condemned the decision to resume Afghanistan deportations, accusing Berlin of election tactics and of violating obligations under international law.
"We all have human rights -- and no one should be deported to a country where there is a threat of torture," said Julia Duchrow, head of Amnesty International Germany.
"If the German government nevertheless deports people to Afghanistan, it risks becoming an accomplice of the Taliban."
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in an interview with Spiegel published Friday, said the government "respects the constitution in everything we do".
"But it's clear that someone who commits a serious offence in our country cannot enjoy the same protection as someone who behaves decently."