As part of the tighter immigration policy pursued by conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz since he took office last year, on Tuesday the latest in a series of flights took off from Germany carrying 31 Afghans returning to a country run by Taliban authorities.
The government has said its priority was to send back people convicted of serious crimes, but Tuesday's was the first such flight which included one deportee who was not a criminal, a move sharply criticised by refugee rights' groups.
A spokeswoman for the interior ministry told a press conference Wednesday that the government's aim was to "begin with deporting people who have been convicted and those who pose a threat" but that it was also possible "to put people on deportation flights who are not criminals".
On Tuesday Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that those on the latest flight were mostly "serious offenders who had committed crimes such as murder, rape and acts of violence".
However he admitted that for one person on the flight "the designation of 'convicted offender' does not apply".
Dobrindt said that "people who have no right to stay in the country can also be subject to deportation if there are no signs they have integrated in Germany".
He took note of demonstrations at Leipzig Airport which accompanied the latest flight but said the government would not be deterred from its "firm stance" on migration.
Merz came to office last year hoping that a tougher immigration policy would help his conservative CDU/CSU alliance – to which Dobrindt also belongs – see off the rising threat of the far-right Alternative for Germany (Afd).
The CDU/CSU has since slumped further in the polls, with the AfD establishing a steady lead.
Germany evacuated its embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul in 2021, when the Taliban authorities retook power, and warns its citizens against travelling to the country.
The latest deportation flight follows a Taliban delegation travelling to Brussels last month to hold talks with the European Union about stepping up the return of failed asylum-seekers to Afghanistan, which was fiercely criticised by rights advocates.
The Taliban authorities impose a strict interpretation of Islamic law, with girls' education stopping at age 12 and several restrictions focused on women.
