Germany drops promise to resettle hundreds of Afghans | Afghanistan
In a sharp U-turn by Conservative chancellor Friedrich Merz, hundreds of Afghans previously promised asylum in Germany have been told they are no longer welcome.
640 people awaiting resettlement in Pakistan – many of whom worked for the German army during the US invasion of Afghanistan – will no longer be accepted as the Merz government cancels two programs launched by its centre-left predecessor.
Merz took a tougher stance on immigration to fend off a fierce challenge from the far right.
An interior ministry spokesman said people awaiting release would receive notification from Germany in the coming days that “there are no longer any political interests in their admission.”
Human rights groups called the cancellation a betrayal that defied many court decisions. They warned that Afghans risked “persecution, harassment and death” if they were sent back.
Karl Kopp, president of the German NGO Pro Asyl, criticized the government’s decision as “ice cold”. he added: “The previous government promised to accept these people for one reason: They had fought for women’s rights, human rights and freedoms in Afghanistan.”
He said the people affected were now in serious danger and at risk of falling into the hands of the Islamist Taliban regime. “For the new government, this disgraceful treatment of people in mortal danger is a declaration of moral bankruptcy.”
Following the Taliban’s return to power four years ago, Germany’s then-center-left government launched programs offering asylum to “persons who are particularly at risk,” including local personnel who had worked in the German military or government ministries, as well as human rights activists and journalists.
Before Merz took office in May, by April 2025, around 4,000 local staff and 15,000 of their family members had been resettled in Germany, according to official data.
Several hundred Afghans have since been evacuated from Pakistan, but the current government has largely moved to phase out this policy, offering money to those who give up their right to resettle. The interior ministry said last month that only 62 people had accepted the offer.
NGOs say some 1,800 Afghans approved for resettlement in Germany have been stranded in Pakistan for months.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt spearheaded many of the government’s toughest measures to thwart new arrivals.
It concluded that only Afghans with a “legally binding” promise should remain eligible for resettlement. The interior ministry said this would cover only 90 of the 220 local staff still awaiting release.
A former local police training officer and father of four He told the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper: He said he waited two years to enter Germany and was shocked by this decision. “All my hopes and dreams for a normal life were suddenly shattered,” he was quoted as saying.
Military affairs correspondent Thomas Wiegold said this turnaround could have long-term consequences for future missions abroad. “German soldiers can fervently hope that they will never again be dependent on local support anywhere, ever, ever again,” he wrote in Bluesky.
More than 250 NGOs published an open letter this week criticizing the government for failing to fulfill Berlin’s promises to Afghans left in limbo; 70% of them were women and children.
Groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and religious organizations have called on the government to release all 1,800 people before the end of the year, the Pakistani government’s deadline for their departure.
Last year, Germany resumed deportations to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, and then-chancellor Olaf Scholz promised a more aggressive approach to deporting those with criminal records.
Several such flights took place This continues under the current government, with the State Department warning of widespread human rights violations in Afghanistan, including “torture, extrajudicial killings, corporal punishment, and public executions.”
