Germany's 2025 deportations surge 13% amid rising costs and resistance
Deportations Surge by 13% as New Details Emerge on Costs, Force, and Failures
It has been known for weeks that the number of people deported last year—around 23,000—was 13% higher than in 2024. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) has framed this as part of his so-called "asylum policy shift" and boasted of the sharp decline in new asylum applications. But responses from the Interior Ministry to a parliamentary inquiry by lawmaker Ulla Bünger now reveal previously undisclosed details about the deportations—including their costs, methods, and failures.
Last year, deportations carried out by federal police officers cost over €10 million, with the bulk of the funds going toward the salaries of officers accompanying the flights. The most expensive operation was a chartered deportation to Afghanistan in autumn, routed through Qatar at a cost of around €600,000. It marked the first deportation to the country since the Islamist Taliban seized power. Human rights organizations sharply condemned the move.
Federal police tactics during deportations have often been heavy-handed. In some cases, more than 100 officers were deployed on a single chartered flight—meaning up to three officers per deportee. And in 2025, police used force against deportees far more frequently than before. Nearly 1,700 incidents involved what the government euphemistically calls "auxiliary means of physical force"—a 40% increase from previous years.
1,600 Deportations Failed
People from African countries were particularly likely to be restrained. Two-thirds of all Algerians deported were shackled on their return. Bünger commented: "This evokes dystopian images from the U.S. In a democratic constitutional state, deportations at any cost must not be the norm."
Meanwhile, the number of so-called voluntary departures rose significantly. In reality, however, these departures nearly always occur under pressure from authorities—activists prefer the term "self-deportations." Nearly 17,000 people received financial incentives from the federal government to leave, up from around 10,000 in 2024. Another 36,000 "voluntary" departures took place without financial inducement—the highest figure since 2017.
Yet while completed deportations increased, the number of failed attempts surged even more. Over 1,600 deportations were aborted after individuals were already in federal police custody. In nearly a third of cases, commercial airline pilots refused to participate—a stark rise from just 300 such incidents the previous year. In 2025, around 300 deportees managed to resist their own removal, with 36 injuring themselves in the process.
Bünger is calling for Germany to follow Spain's example. In late January, Madrid's left-wing government launched a major naturalization program, granting residency to roughly 500,000 undocumented migrants instead of deporting them. The measure aims to counter Spain's aging population and boost the economy. "It works—politically, too," Bünger argued. "If you don't scapegoat people, the far right stays marginalized."
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