Austria Deports Third Afghan Refugee Convicted Of Crimes
Austria has deported an Afghan man to Kabul after he completed a prison sentence, the Interior Ministry said, marking the third such removal of an Afghan national in recent months.
Austria has deported an Afghan man to Kabul after he completed a prison sentence, the Interior Ministry said, marking the third such removal of an Afghan national in recent months.
The 33-year-old was expelled early Sunday via Istanbul, the ministry said. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said deportations would continue and that criminal nationals from Syria and Afghanistan would be expelled gradually.
According to the ministry, the man arrived in Austria in July 2015 and was convicted six times by Austrian courts, including for serious violent offences. A total of nine criminal offences were recorded against him. Authorities described him as a dangerous criminal who spent about five of his 10 years in Austria in prison.
The Interior Ministry said he was among individuals identified by a Taliban delegation in Vienna, which issued him a travel document for return to Afghanistan.
A Taliban delegation travelled to Vienna in September 2025 for talks on the deportation of Afghan nationals. Austrian authorities have not announced how many Afghans are expected to be deported.
One Afghan was deported on October 21, 2025, and another on November 9, 2025, according to official statements.
Austria deported more than 14,000 people convicted of crimes or found to have irregular residency status in 2025, official figures show, in what authorities describe as an unprecedented level of removals.
