Afghans who had been told they could move to Germany will be informed in the next few days “that there is no longer any political interest in their admission.”
With these terse words, the spokeswoman for the Germany’s Interior Ministry, Sonja Kock, revealed that 640 people waiting in Pakistan to be relocated in Germany will not be able to come after all.
Amid fears of persecution and reprisals from the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, this group had already been promised asylum by the German government.
But the pledge is being revoked because Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government in Berlin aims to scrap the resettlement programs “as far as possible.” This was agreed by the conservative CDU and CSU parties and the Social Democrats in their coalition agreement earlier this year.
The previous government, made up of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals, had promised to accept women’s rights activists, lawyers, journalists and other opposition figures from Afghanistan via the “human rights list” and the “bridging list.”
However, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt made a U-turn on these commitments, which date from after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in 2021, dismissing them as “legacy issues.”
After the Taliban took over, many Afghans were evacuated from Kabul by the German Armed Forces. Today, the political climate has changedImage: Bundeswehr/dpa/picture alliance
Afghans who worked for German ministries also rejected
This is the first time that the third resettlement program for local staff who worked for German ministries in Afghanistan has been affected. Last week, these workers and their families received the news via email, according to the aid organization “Kabul-Luftbrücke.” Spokesperson for the group, Eva Beyer, told DW that around 130 people who had received commitments from the German government’s local staff program were told that they would no longer be taken in by Germany.
The email was sent by the German government’s development aid agency GIZ. Its decisive sentence reads: “After further detailed examination, it has been decided that there are no grounds for granting admission to Germany under Section 22 of the Residence Act.” The message does not give a specific reason for the reversal. Sonja Kock from the German Interior Ministry confirmed that this means only 90 of the remaining 220 local staff can now claim admission.
Interior Minister says he wants to stick to commitments for local staff
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) was not aware of these developments when DW asked him about the rejection of local staff. “I have read a report on this, which I cannot fully assess, but I have asked my office to provide me with an assessment today,” he said.
Dobrindt assured DW: “There has been no change in my decision, which I have made clear for some time. Where we have legally binding admission commitments, we will fulfill them. We see ourselves as having an ongoing responsibility toward so-called local staff.”
A prerequisite for admission is passing a security check.
According to government statistics, Germany has accepted a total of 4,000 local staff and almost 15,000 family members from when the Taliban seized power in 2021 until April 2025. The group still waiting in Pakistan is relatively small in comparison.
Under Taliban shadow, Afghans in Pakistan look to Germany
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Uncertainty over Germany’s immigration plans
With the Pakistani authorities threatening to hand over Afghans still staying in German guesthouses in Pakistan to the Taliban regime at the turn of the year, time is running out.
Several hundred people have been moved from Pakistan to Germany since the current government took office, in addition to the particularly vulnerable local staff already mentioned, but around 1,000 more Afghans are still waiting to leave for safety in Germany.
Under the fourth resettlement program, they had been promised that they would be allowed to resettle. However, in recent months, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has not heeded these pledges: Only people who have successfully sued German administrative courts to enforce the admission commitments will still be flown out.
According to the aid organization “Kabul-Luftbrücke”, which connects Afghans with lawyers, 84 lawsuits have been successful so far, with another 195 pending. Dozens more lawsuits are being prepared. It is doubtful whether these proceedings can be wrapped up before the end of the year.
“This is an unbelievable state of uncertainty in which some people have been living for months, some even for years,” said Beyer of Kabul-Luftbrücke, referring to the people stranded in Pakistan. “This uncertainty alone is psychological torture.”
Over the course of four years, around 3,500 commitments were made under the resettlement program, which was primarily for former employees of German non-governmental organizations who were at risk after the Islamist Taliban seized power.
Afghan migrants stuck in Pakistan reject German cash offer
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‘A litmus test for the German government’s reliability’
Some 250 organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Pro Asyl, and Brot für die Welt, have sent an open letter to Interior Minister Dobrindt calling on him to bring endangered Afghan families to Germany before the end of the year without bureaucratic hurdles.
Helen Rezene, co-director of Pro Asyl, called the rescue of all people with admission promises the “litmus test for the German government’s reliability, credibility, and humanity.”
Kock said that at least those affected would not be immediately homeless. They could stay in rented guest houses in Pakistan as long as the land border between Afghanistan and Pakistan remained closed, she said.
The German government is also offering to book flights for would-be refugees back to the Afghan capital, Kabul — even though their fate there would be completely unclear.
This article was originally published in German.
