KABUL (Pajhwok): Austria’s Interior Ministry says it has deported a 26-year-old Afghan national from Vienna to Kabul via Istanbul.
In a statement, the ministry said the man was deported on August 31 and was continuously monitored and accompanied during his transfer from Vienna to Kabul.
According to the ministry, the Afghan national had committed offences in Austria on three occasions and had served a total of more than two years and six months in prison for serious property and drug-related offences.
The ministry said 20 incidents involving the man had been recorded in criminal police records. It added that he had also been involved in a criminal incident with another inmate while in prison.
According to the statement, the man was among Afghan nationals identified and confirmed by a delegation from the Afghan authorities in Vienna in September 2025.
The Austrian Interior Ministry said the identification process paved the way for the resumption of direct deportations from Austria to Afghanistan.
The ministry said Austria, along with Germany, was among the first European countries to resume direct deportations of individuals to Afghanistan and Syria. Austrian officials have stressed that people who commit crimes or have no legal right to remain in the country must leave.
According to figures from the Austrian Interior Ministry, more than 8,800 people without legal residency left Austria during the first seven months of 2026, with more than half forcibly deported. Of those forcibly deported, 48 percent had criminal convictions.
Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said deportations of people without the right to remain in the country would continue and that the government was firmly pursuing the policy.
Meanwhile, Germany has also deported dozens of Afghans to Kabul in recent weeks.
hz
