Hesse expands deportations to Afghanistan to include people without criminal convictions

Background to the decision

The tightening follows a nationwide new regulation that no longer targets only criminals and security threats, but also other persons required to leave the country as a target group for deportations. This shifts the practice of repatriations toward broader application. According to its own statements, Hesse is the first federal state to now actively use these expanded possibilities.

Figures from Hesse

According to figures from the Hessian Ministry of the Interior and the Central Register of Foreigners, a total of 2,003 Afghan nationals with an obligation to leave the country were living in Hesse as of the reporting date of June 30, 2026. Of these, 1,482 are of legal age and male. In total, according to Timmo Scherenberg, Managing Director of the Hessian Refugee Council, more than 13,000 people required to leave the country are registered in Hesse. According to the Refugee Council, Afghan nationals represent the second-largest group among those with tolerated status in Hesse.

Exceptions remain in place

Women remain exempt from the new practice, as they are considered a persecuted group under EU regulations, as do children. Sick people and persons with connections to the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) are also excluded from deportations to Afghanistan, according to the ministry. The expansion therefore primarily affects adult male Afghans without special grounds for protection.

Criticism from aid organizations

The Hessian Refugee Council fundamentally rejects the expansion of deportations to Afghanistan and points to the catastrophic human rights situation under the Taliban. Timmo Scherenberg described it as irresponsible to drop all previous restrictions and thereby also release non-criminal-convicted Afghans for deportation. „Jetzt aber sämtliche Einschränkungen, die bislang bestanden hatten, fallenzulassen und damit auch nicht vorbestrafte Afghanen zur Abschiebung freizugeben, ist unverantwortlich", said Scherenberg.

Pro Asyl spoke in a similar vein and pointed out that those affected are in deportation detention without having committed any crimes and had fled from the Islamist Taliban. Amnesty International shared this assessment. Nina Alizadeh Marandi, asylum expert at Amnesty International in Germany, criticized deportations to Afghanistan as contradictory to Germany's human rights and international law obligations: „Abschiebungen nach Afghanistan stehen im Widerspruch zu den menschen- und völkerrechtlichen Verpflichtungen Deutschlands."

International concerns

Marandi also warned that cooperation with the Taliban would make German policy vulnerable to blackmail. This concern weighs particularly heavily because the Taliban exercise Islamist rule in Afghanistan and systematically restrict fundamental rights. Critics see the expansion of deportations as a departure from humanitarian standards.

Current deportations and statistics

In the first half of 2026, a total of 87 people were deported from Germany to Afghanistan, according to the report. Since the resumption of deportations to Afghanistan two years ago, Germany has thus returned just under 200 people to the country in total. Most deportations take place via collective charter flights.

Logistical effort

Timmo Scherenberg pointed to the considerable personnel effort required for deportations to Afghanistan. „Bei einer Abschiebung nach Afghanistan sind viel mehr Bundespolizeibeamte als bei anderen Abschiebungen eingebunden. Das ist ein unglaublicher Aufwand, diese Abschiebungen durchzuführen, das kann man nicht beliebig steigern", he said. This assessment points to practical limits on any further expansion.

Deportation detention in Darmstadt

According to the Hessian Refugee Council, around a dozen Afghan nationals are currently in deportation detention in Darmstadt. They are potential candidates for the next repatriations. The next deportations from Germany to Afghanistan are expected at the end of July 2026, according to the report.

Mood in the Afghan community

Scherenberg sees the new practice as an attempt to deliberately spread insecurity within the Afghan community in Germany and to increase pressure on Afghans living there. This assessment is consistent with reports of growing uncertainty among those affected, who now have to reckon with deportation despite lacking criminal liability.

Parallels in Thuringia

Thuringia's Justice Minister Meißner had also spoken similarly to Poseck and emphasized the focus of deportations. This suggests that other federal states could follow Hesse's example. The nationwide new regulation fundamentally opens up the possibility for all states to deport Afghans without criminal convictions.

Legal classification

Poseck justified the enforcement of the obligation to leave the country as the core of the constitutional state: „Wenn die Ausreisepflicht festgestellt worden ist, muss sie auch gelten und umgesetzt werden." The opposing position is taken by the Refugee Council, which views the human rights situation in Afghanistan as incompatible with repatriations. Hessian practice thus stands in the tension between national deportation policy and international human rights standards.

Outlook

With the further deportations announced for the end of July 2026, it will become clear how many of the approximately 2,003 Afghans required to leave the country in Hesse will actually be affected. The debate over the compatibility of this practice with Germany's human rights obligations is likely to intensify further in the process.