The German government has offered cash payments to Afghan nationals stranded in Pakistan if they give up efforts to immigrate to Germany under a resettlement programme established for vulnerable groups, including those who once worked with German forces in Afghanistan.
About 2,000 Afghans have been approved for relocation to Germany under the programme for people at risk under Taliban rule, but have been stranded in Pakistan for months or even years awaiting resettlement.
Germany’s conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz suspended the programme in May in a bid to show his administration’s seriousness about tackling migration, a major concern for German voters at a time when the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) tops several opinion polls.
“It is logical that if we assume that people have no possibility of being admitted to Germany, we offer them some perspective, and this is linked to making a financial offer for a voluntary return to Afghanistan or another third country,” German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Wednesday.
“These offers have been made to these people in recent days,” Dobrindt said, without revealing how much money was involved or the number of people being excluded from entry.
Afghan nationals who already hold binding approval to enter Germany under the suspended programme will still be allowed to enter the country – subject to security checks – but others will not, the minister added.
German media outlets report the payments amount to several thousand euros (dollars), with a first instalment available for those who agree to accept made in Pakistan and more payments on arrival in Afghanistan or a third country.
Germany’s DPA news agency said the pay offer has been sharply criticised by Afghans in Pakistan who had hoped to relocate to Germany, while others had expressed shock and disappointment.
“We have spent two years in Pakistan, and now we are being offered a shameful and foolish deal that jeopardises our future and that of our children,” an Afghan who received the government’s offer in a letter told the news organisation.
In addition to local staff, who once worked for German institutions, and their families in Afghanistan, DPA said the relocation programme was designed to “admit Afghans who fear persecution by the Taliban” for having worked as lawyers or journalists, or those who dealt with human rights issues.
The news organisation also reported that a group of 31 Afghans approved for resettlement under the scheme had arrived from Pakistan in the north German city of Hanover on Tuesday evening.
Officials said the group were “exclusively persons for whom legally binding court orders oblige the Federal Republic of Germany” to allow them to enter the country.
While the relocation programme has now been suspended, DPA reports that some Afghans have successfully sued the German government in court to “enforce their right” to enter Germany.
