Last year, 60 percent of all deportation attempts faltered. According to the Federal Police, 32 855 expulsions collapsed before the deportee was handed over to the border‑control officers at the airports. Most of the failures stemmed from unplanned “non‑escort” incidents (21 341) handled by state police and from earlier announced “cancellations of searches” (11 184). After the handover, a further 1 593 attempts failed, leaving only 22 787 successful deportations.
In a written response to a request from the AfD caucus, the Federal Ministry of the Interior reported that during the first four months of 2025-that is, while the previous federal cabinet was still in office-an average of 2 035 people were deported each month. From May to December 2025, the average dropped to 1 831 per month.
AfD interior spokesman Gottfried Curio told “Welt am Sonntag” that these figures show “that the announced migration turnaround has failed to deliver results in the domain of returns”. He called for deploying every available lever-from visa restrictions to development aid payments-against origin countries that obstruct repatriations.
To reduce failures caused by deportable persons not being found at their registered addresses, Hesse’s Interior Minister Roman Poseck (CDU) proposes mobile‑phone tracking for those who cannot be located. Poseck explained that the measure is not intended to place every deportable individual under blanket suspicion. Rather, it activates only when a person is not found, allowing authorities to quickly trace the individual via phone and complete the intended deportation.
Poseck noted that mobile‑phone tracking is “significantly faster” than applying for a travel ban, a process that requires a judge to be convinced of the duration and justification of the measure. He argued that phone tracking might salvage a deportation that would otherwise be lost, whereas detention is typically reserved for securing future attempts.
Saxony’s Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) supports the approach, stating that mobile‑phone tracking can be an important addition to the toolbox for enforcing deportations. He emphasizes, however, that an even more effective strategy would be to deter deportees from absconding by making detention readily available. Schuster urges European authorities to lift the ban on separation so that regular jail cells could once again be used for detention during deportation procedures.
