Germany Aims to Relocate Over 500 Afghans Stranded in Pakistan by Year-End
Germany has announced that 535 Afghan nationals who have received legally binding admission pledges are currently in Pakistan, and efforts are underway to facilitate their transfer to Germany. German officials say the aim is to relocate the majority of these individuals by the end of December this year.
Alexander Dobrindt, Germany’s Interior Minister, told the German Editorial Network media group that 460 of these individuals are part of the federal admission program, while the remaining 75 are affiliated with the local staff program. All are presently in Pakistan. According to Dobrindt, contact with Pakistani authorities is ongoing to expedite the relocation process.
He added that the German government is eager to finalize these cases as quickly as possible, though it is likely that some individual cases may be carried over into the new year. Dobrindt emphasized that Berlin’s priority is to rapidly evacuate those with legally binding admissions.
On Tuesday, a charter flight transported 160 of these Afghans from Islamabad to Berlin after their cases were processed. The move comes as Pakistan has announced that starting in January, it will begin repatriating remaining Afghans not covered by German admission programs. This decision raises concerns about the safety of those potentially being returned to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, where human rights violations and widespread insecurity persist.
According to reports, since September, 609 Afghans with admission pledges have entered Germany via charter flights. However, the German government insists that only individuals with legally binding pledges will be relocated.
In contrast, approximately 650 individuals who were listed under the “human rights list” and a temporary initiative known as Überbrückungsprogramm were rejected last week. This decision follows the policy during the tenure of Germany’s current coalition government, which includes the Social Democrats, Christian Democrats, and Bavaria’s Christian Social Union. In May of this year, the coalition ended programs aimed at admitting at-risk Afghans.
According to the coalition agreement, voluntary federal admission programs—including those for Afghanistan—will be phased out, and no new initiatives will be launched. Nevertheless, in recent months, some individuals and their families have succeeded in securing German visas and entering the country through legal challenges and court rulings.
