According to the Federal Police, 2,880 people were deported from Germany in the first three months of this year - significantly fewer than in the same period last year.
This was reported by the newspapers of the Funke media group, citing a response from the federal government to a request from the left-wing parliamentary group.
In the first quarter of 2020 there were 4088 deportations, in the first quarter of 2019 there were even 5613.
The newspapers mainly justified the significant decrease compared to previous years with the effects of the corona pandemic.
The countries to which the most people were deported in 2021 include Georgia, Albania, Moldova and Serbia.
78 people were returned to Afghanistan.
Aggravation by Corona in many countries
The domestic political spokeswoman for the left-wing parliamentary group, Ulla Jelpke, criticized the federal government's deportation practice.
"Deportations are always to be rejected, but in the pandemic this is all the more urgent," Jelpke told the newspapers.
"While in the rich industrialized countries it looks as if the corona virus can finally be brought under control with the help of the vaccination campaigns, it continues to spread uncontrolled elsewhere."
In many countries, the pandemic "led to massive economic upheavals and exacerbated social emergencies," Jelpke emphasized.
"Anyone who pushes deportations under such circumstances accepts the endangerment of the health and life of those affected and proves that he doesn't care about humanity and human rights."
The imminent withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan has sparked some concerned reactions with regard to deportations to the country.
The human rights organization Pro Asyl called for an immediate ban on deportations in Afghanistan.