The German government carried out on Friday morning its first deportation flight of Afghan nationals back to their home country, according to a statement published by Germany’s Minister of Interior and Home Affairs Nancy Faeser.

The deported people were 28 Afghans who had been convicted of criminal offenses and were subject to deportation orders. They were also illegally residing in Germany after they arrived from other European countries.

This is the first deportation flight organized by Germany since the Taliban gained power in August 2021. Following this, Germany stopped returning individuals to Afghanistan for human rights concerns. “In recent months, we as the federal government have done a lot to ensure that repatriation in these cases becomes possible again,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.

Friday’s deportation flight to Afghanistan comes one week after the deadly knife attack that took place in Solingen. On August 23, a man stabbed three individuals during a city festival in the German city. The perpetrator was arrested the following day and was charged with murder and membership in a terrorist organization.

The Solingen attack sparked a nationwide debate in the country over refugees, migration and counterterrorism laws and some parties called for adopting stricter gun and counterterrorism rules. A few days after the attack, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Sholz vowed to speed up the deportation of migrants who are illegally staying in Germany to their country of origin.

The conducted deportation flight is part of the German government’s policy to tackle terrorist threats and restore security. The Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection announced on Thursday a package of security measures in response to Solingen’s terrorist attack. The announced new measures target three areas: tightening individuals’ right to carry weapons, increasing security forces’ powers to fight and investigate Islamist terrorism and reducing irregular migration.

This last measure includes deporting migrants who don’t have the right to stay in Germany to other countries. This applies even to asylum seekers who are subject to the Dublin Regulation. This means that people whose asylum procedures must be carried out in a member state other than Germany and whom the concerned state has agreed to readmit will no longer receive benefits in Germany and will also be deported.

The Dublin Regulation is a European regulation that establishes the criteria for determining the EU member state responsible for examining an asylum application presented by a third-country national in one of the member states.

Asked about the organization of more deportation flights to other countries in the future, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser stated that “we will continue to talk to partners because we have said that we will not talk directly to the Taliban… But I also ask for your understanding, we have to hold very sensitive talks there, which is why I will not go into detail.”