BERLIN — Pakistani police have reportedly arrested hundreds of Afghans in Pakistan slated for resettlement to Germany, deporting some to Afghanistan.
This follows suspension of a German government program that provided refuge to people deemed particularly vulnerable under Taliban rule.
Around 400 Afghans awaiting resettlement to Germany in Pakistan have been arrested in recent weeks, and several dozen of them have been deported to their home country, according to a report by German newspaper Welt — which, like POLITICO, is owned by Axel Springer.
The German government effectively suspended a resettlement program for vulnerable Afghans after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz came to power with a vow to drastically curtail the influx of asylum-seekers into the country. That decision stranded some 2,200 Afghans in Pakistan — among them women’s rights activists and LGBTQ+ people who face oppression under Taliban rule.
The government in Islamabad repeatedly urged the German government to formally end the resettlement program, according to the Welt report. Berlin agreed to make a decision by the end of June, but ultimately failed to follow through, the report continued. After that, Pakistani police began arresting Afghans with expired visas, effectively making the decision for the German government.
“We have received dozens of reports of deportations to Afghanistan,” humanitarian organization Kabul Luftbrücke said in a statement on Thursday. “We are constantly receiving new calls for help.”
The organization said that Pakistani security forces had been searching accommodations provided to the stranded Afghans by the German government’s development agency. Among those in danger of deportation are 1,700 women and children, according to the group.
German courts have already ruled that the German government is obligated to follow through on the resettlement commitments it has made to the circa 2,200 Afghans in Pakistan.
The foreign ministry in Berlin has yet to respond to a request for comment from POLITICO.
The United Nations in a report last month warned that Afghans forced to return to their home country under Taliban rule face “serious violations” of their human rights — including threats, torture, and arbitrary arrest and detention. The report was published after Iran and Pakistan began a campaign of deporting Afghans in large numbers.
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