Scholz: Deportation is a clear signal to criminals

Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz has described the deportation flight to Afghanistan as a sign to all criminals. "It is a clear sign: Anyone who commits crimes cannot count on us not getting them deported, but we will try to do so, as you can see in this case," said the SPD politician at an election campaign event near Leipzig.

"We have announced that we will also deport criminals to Afghanistan again. We prepared this carefully without talking about it too much, because such plans only succeed if you make an effort, if you do it carefully and very discreetly. That was done today," said the Federal Chancellor.

In the morning, a deportation flight took off from Germany to Afghanistan for the first time since the Taliban took power three years ago. According to Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, 28 criminals were on board the plane.