German minister backs deporting convicted Afghans after fatal attack

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has reiterated his commitment to deporting convicted offenders to Afghanistan following a fatal attack last week on a student in the western city of Trier, reported dpa.

"I still consider this an absolutely necessary measure, and I will continue to push for deportations to countries such as Afghanistan," Dobrindt told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday. He said society had a clear right to expect that foreign convicted criminals be removed from the country.

Dobrindt said he intended to pursue the policy consistently and rejected what he described as repetitive statements to the effect that traumatized individuals should instead receive assistance.

"We are not the part of the world responsible for all people with mental illnesses and all trauma, to put it somewhat bluntly," the interior minister said.

The remarks came after 22-year-old university student was fatally stabbed last Wednesday near the University of Trier.

An Afghan man, also 22, has been identified as the suspect. According to investigators, he allegedly stabbed the student at least twice in the upper body with a kitchen knife on a public street for reasons that remain unknown.

Germany's conservative-led government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz has attempted to step up deportations to Afghanistan since taking office last year, despite the lack of formal diplomatic relations with the Taliban regime in Kabul.