Told conference 'it cannot be that all young people from Afghanistan come to Germany'

Merkel says 60,000 rejected asylum seekers to be repatriated voluntarily

Germany is planning to return 100,000 rejected asylum seekers to their home countries after Angela Merkel admitted: 'It cannot be that all young people from Afghanistan come here'.

About 60,000 will be returned under voluntary repatriation programmes while the rest face compulsory deportations, the German chancellor revealed.

They will be given money as 'start-up' aid to help them resettle in their homeland as well as a plane ticket, it has been reported in Germany.

Germany is planning to return 100,000 rejected asylum seekers to their home countries after Angela Merkel (pictured) admitted: 'It cannot be that all young people from Afghanistan come here'

According to Die Welt, Merkel made the announcement at a Christian Democratic Union (CDU) regional conference in Neumünster, northern Germany on Friday.

Referencing Afghanistan, the 62-year-old is said to have told members that 'it cannot be that all young people from Afghanistan come to Germany'.

Merkel has previously come under fire in Germany for her 'open-door' policy, in the wake of Europe's worst migration crisis since World War II.

But, speaking to the conference, Merkel stressed the need to repatriate failed asylum seekers.

Merkel (pictured alongside Theresa May) has previously come under fire in Germany for her 'open-door' policy, in the wake of Europe's worst migration crisis since World War II

Earlier this month the veteran chancellor announced she would run again in next year's polls.

She has governed Europe's top economic power, which does not have term limits, since 2005.