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The German government has for the first time deported Afghan asylum seekers, sending 34 back to Kabul on a chartered flight last night. According to npr.org, hundreds of protesters — both Afghan and German — marched against the deportations at Frankfurt Airport where the flight departed. The migrants' requests for asylum had been denied, the source detailed.

Protesters complained that the government action is misguided, given that Afghanistan is still at war with the Taliban, which effectively controls much of the country. Protesters say there is no mechanism in place to ensure the safety of the deportees once they return.

Other German critics accused Chancellor Angela Merkel's government of using such deportations to win back voters who are leaning towards the nationalist, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which is steadily gaining in the polls.

To remind, tens of thousands of Afghan migrants were allowed into Germany among the wave of asylum seekers that reached Europe via the Mediterranean in 2015. Most of the Afghan repatriations from Germany have been voluntary, with Merkel's government offering financial incentives to Afghans whose asylum claims were rejected and who agree to return to Kabul. But German officials say they plan to forcibly return more of the 12,000 Afghans living in Germany who've been issued deportation orders.