Dobrindt seeks deportation agreement with Taliban

Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt is seeking direct talks with the radical Islamic Taliban in Afghanistan to facilitate the deportation of criminals from Germany . "Third parties are still needed to conduct talks with Afghanistan. This cannot remain a permanent solution," the CSU politician told "Focus" magazine. The politician's goal is to reach direct agreements with the Taliban to facilitate repatriations.

Since the Taliban took power in 2021, there have been no deportations from Germany to Afghanistan—with one exception: In August of last year, 28 criminals were brought to Kabul with the support of Qatar. The radical Islamic Taliban government is largely ostracized, and official negotiations with them have so far been uncommon.

Deportations to Syria still open

According to the Interior Minister, returns to Syria also remain an unresolved challenge. In order to allow deportations there again, then Interior Minister Nancy Faeser of the SPD contacted the new transitional government shortly before her departure. This government was largely made up of theIslamist militia HTS , which had overthrown ruler Bashar al-Assad .

"There are contacts with Syria regarding an agreement to repatriate Syrian criminals," Dobrindt explained, adding that the results are not yet available.

Upper limit of 200,000 refugees "clearly too much"

Dobrindt also called for a significant reduction in the annual number of refugees. The cap of 200,000 refugees per year was "significantly too high" and long outdated.

This figure was once suggested as an upper limit by former Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU). However, with 600,000 registered asylum seekers in the past two years, it has been far exceeded, and the 1.2 million Ukrainians must also be included, Dobrindt said.

In the past two years, around 600,000 asylum applications have been submitted each year, and an additional 1.2 million Ukrainian refugees have arrived, Dobrindt said. "So, today, a theoretical upper limit of 200,000 is no longer feasible—from today's perspective, that would be far too high."

ch/haz (dpa, rtr, KNA, afp)