Frankfurt (Germany) (AFP) - Germany said Friday it had deported Afghans convicted of crimes 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 of serious crimes and had no right to remain in Germany”, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told reporters.

A chartered flight bound for Kabul took off from Leipzig airport just before 0500 GMT, authorities said.

It comes exactly a week after a deadly knife attack allegedly committed by a Syrian man at a street festival in the western city of Solingen shocked Germany, with the Islamic State jihadist group claiming responsibility.

It also comes ahead of closely-watched regional elections in two eastern German states Sunday, where the far-right, anti-immigration AfD party is expected to make big gains.

The deportations were “necessary to ensure that trust in the rule of law continues to exist”, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.

Germany did not have “direct contact with the Taliban or Afghanistan”, Faeser said, thanking unnamed partners for their diplomatic assistance.

The deportation flight was the result of two months of “secret negotiations” in which Qatar acted as the intermediary between Berlin and the Taliban authorities, Der Spiegel weekly reported.

Germany completely stopped deportations to Afghanistan and closed its embassy in Kabul after the Taliban returned to power in August 2021.

- ‘A signal’ -

The Taliban government, which has implemented a strict interpretation of Islamic law, has still not been officially recognised by any country.

Germany was sending a message with the deportation flight, said Hebestreit, “including a signal to potential criminals or people planning crimes in our country”.

Among those sent back Friday were violent offenders and sex offenders, local authorities said, including an Afghan man who took part in the gang rape of a 14-year-old girl.

Green party co-leader Omid Nouripour welcomed the expulsion of 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.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government has faced 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 in Solingen that left three people dead, allegedly committed by a 26-year-old Syrian man.

The suspect was meant to have been deported to Bulgaria a while back, but 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 Mannheim stabbing revived debate about deporting serious criminals even if they come from countries deemed unsafe like Afghanistan or Syria.

- Crackdown -

Faeser on Thursday said deportations to both countries would form part of a package of measures to tighten security and asylum policies.

Discontent about immigration is expected to play a key role in Sunday’s elections in the states of Saxony and Thuringia, where the AfD is riding high in the polls and Scholz’s coalition parties are bracing for a slapdown.

Rights group Amnesty International condemned the decision to resume Afghanistan deportations, accusing Berlin of election tactics and of violating obligations under international law.

“No one is safe in Afghanistan,” 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.”

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.”