A German court ruled on Tuesday that the government must issue visas to an Afghan family that previously accepted a program for those at risk after the Taliban seized power in 2021.
The new government under conservative chancellor Friedrich Merz has frozen the program, but the Berlin Administrative Court said the family had received a “legally binding” commitment and should be allowed to travel to Germany.
It is estimated that around 2,500 Afghan with similar approvals are in Pakistan waiting to travel to Germany.
The program was created for those who worked with the German army or other institutions in Afghanistan, as well as journalists and activists considered threatened by the Taliban.
However, the new Government Bajo Merz, who made an offensive against immigration one of his key electoral promises, has said in his coalition agreement that he wants to end the program “as far as possible.”
The family worried about Tuesday’s decision is currently in Pakistan and had presented an urgent appeal, telling the Court that they were about to be deported to Afghanistan, where their lives fear.
The family was approved to get to Germany in 2023 under the program.
Then they requested the German embassy in Islamabad for visas, but they have not been issued.
The court said the government had the right to decide if and under what conditions the admission program for Afghan citizens “will continue and could” refrain from new approvals during this decision process. “
But “it cannot be released” from the approvals that have already occurred, he said.
According to the last update given on the scheme given in April 2024, more than 33,000 Afghas have traveled to Germany under the program.
