Overview

• Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said technical-level discussions with Afghan representatives aim to allow regular deportations, potentially on scheduled flights.
• A German delegation met Afghan interlocutors in Qatar in early September, a visit to Kabul is being considered, and Qatari officials are mediating the process.
• The federal government reiterates it does not recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s government, describing the engagement as technical rather than diplomatic.
• Germany has conducted two collective deportation flights to Kabul since 2021 with Qatari help, returning 28 people in autumn 2024 and 81 in July 2025, primarily convicted offenders.
• The International Organization for Migration criticizes forced returns and has curtailed support for voluntary returns to Afghanistan, noting roughly two million people already sent back from Pakistan and Iran this year and about three million expected for 2025.