Germany updates: Dobrindt talks migration with EU ministers

A chartered flight has returned a group of Afghans from Germany after failed asylum claims and criminal convictions.The German interior ministry on Friday confirmed it sent Afghan nationals back to their home country on board a flight from Leipzig airport."This morning, Germany is deporting 81 Afghan nationals to their country of origin as part of a collective repatriation effort," the ministry said. "These are Afghan men who are legally required to leave the country and who have a criminal record in the past."More than 10 months ago, Germany resumed deporting Afghan nationals for the first time since the Taliban seized power in 2021. Then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz had pledged to ramp up removals of rejected asylum-seekers.His successor, Friedrich Merz, made tougher migration policy a key pillar of his February election campaign.