Germany has deported 47 individuals to Iraq in a chartered flight from Hannover.

The deportees, from 11 federal states, included 16 men from Lower Saxony, nine of whom were identified as offenders.

Authorities stated that these individuals had failed to leave voluntarily within the given timeframe, making their deportation mandatory.

The flight, operated by Freebird Airlines, faced delays due to winter weather and landed in Baghdad in the afternoon.

The deportation sparked protests from refugee advocacy groups, including the Lower Saxony Refugee Council, who highlighted the case of a 30-year-old Yazidi man from Shingal, a region that suffered genocide by ISIS in 2014. Officials denied any connection between the deportation and the upcoming federal elections.