Germany to resume accepting vulnerable Afghans after legal, diplomatic pressure

AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS

Germany is to end a months-long suspension of accepting vulnerable Afghan nationals it has promised asylum to, following mounting legal pressure at home and a deportation drive by Pakistani authorities, the Welt newspaper reported today.

Around 2,000 Afghans approved for resettlement to Germany under a program for those deemed vulnerable under Taliban rule have been stuck in neighboring Pakistan for months after Berlin froze the scheme as part of a pledge to curb migration.

Rights groups and dozens of affected Afghans have challenged the suspension in court, with some winning rulings that have increased pressure on Berlin to act.

The urgency has been heightened as Pakistan plans to expel registered Afghan refugees by a September 1 deadline, including those in Germany’s resettlement program.

According to the newspaper, citing government sources, the affected families have already been informed about the continuation of the program, and the first Afghan families are expected in the coming days.

The government plans to discreetly relocate the Afghans on regular commercial flights with a stopover in Dubai or Istanbul before arriving in Germany, and the exact number of people who have been approved to leave is not yet clear, Welt added.

The foreign ministry is said to have confirmed only that screening procedures are continuing and that staff have been deployed to Pakistan to process the cases.

The foreign and interior ministries were not immediately available for comment.