Human rights commissioner: Afghans urgently need visas for Germany

The human rights commissioner of the German government, Lars Castellucci, has called on the Interior Ministry and the Foreign Office to expedite the admission of vulnerable Afghan men and women from Pakistan.

He wrote on the platform X on Friday that the government coalition had agreed on an orderly and humanitarian migration policy. The lengthy examinations in the case of the Afghanistan admission programme fulfil neither, he added. Castellucci argued that those who want to curb illegal migration must simultaneously open legal pathways.

Time is pressing due to deportations

Castellucci demanded that those who have received a legally binding promise of entry to Germany through the Federal Admission Programme for Afghanistan must also receive their visa “promptly.” He said that time is pressing in light of deportations from Pakistan to Afghanistan.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt stated that each case would be examined to determine whether there is a legally binding obligation to admit. He also said that a security check would be conducted.

This concerns Afghans who are considered at risk because they have advocated for democratic rights or once worked as local staff for the German Armed Forces or German organizations. These people, along with their family members, have an admission promise from the previous coalition government.

Since the German embassy in Kabul has been closed since Afghanistan was retaken by the Islamist Taliban in 2021, they are undergoing the examination process in Pakistan.

This week, the German government announced that Pakistan has deported about 210 of the approximately 2,000 people from the programme to their country of origin.

According to a spokesman for the Foreign Office, the Pakistani authorities had previously arrested around 450 people from the programme. He said that the German embassy in Islamabad and the Foreign Office had managed to secure the release of 245 of them from deportation camps.

Admission promises occupy German courts

Several dozen cases from Afghan men and women in the admission programme are now pending in German courts. According to the spokeswoman for the Berlin Administrative Court, in 22 cases as of Wednesday, the judges have so far required the German government to issue visas.