Germany has reversed its commitment to resettle hundreds of Afghans who had been promised sanctuary, telling 640 people awaiting evacuation in Pakistan that they are no longer welcome. The decision, confirmed by the interior ministry, marks a stark policy shift under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose conservative government has moved to dismantle two programmes introduced by its centre-left predecessor.
Many of those affected are local staff who worked for the German military during the US-led occupation of Afghanistan, alongside rights activists and journalists. The interior ministry said those awaiting evacuation would be informed in the coming days that “there is no longer any political interest in their being admitted”. Until April 2025, before Mr Merz took office, roughly 4,000 local staff and 15,000 family members had been resettled under the previous government’s schemes for “especially endangered people”.
Rights groups condemned the reversal as a betrayal that defied court rulings and warned that those left behind risked “persecution, abuse and death”. Karl Kopp, head of the German NGO Pro Asyl, described the decision as “ice cold” and said those affected had been promised refuge because “they had fought for women’s rights, human rights and freedom in Afghanistan”. He added: “For the new government, this shameful treatment of people in mortal danger is a declaration of moral bankruptcy.”
One former local police training officer, a father of four, told the daily Frankfurter Rundschau that he had waited two years to enter Germany and was shocked by the news. “In a single moment, all my hopes and dreams of a normal life were shattered,” he said. The interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, has concluded that only Afghans with a “legally binding” promise should remain eligible, a criterion that would cover just 90 of the 220 local staff still awaiting evacuation.
More than 250 NGOs, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have signed an open letter urging the government to evacuate all 1,800 Afghans stranded in Pakistan before the year-end deadline set by Pakistani authorities. They noted that 70% of those affected are women and children. The military affairs reporter Thomas Wiegold warned that the about-face could deter local support for future missions, writing: “German soldiers can only fervently hope that they will never, ever, ever again be dependent on local support anywhere.” Germany has also resumed deportations to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, despite foreign ministry warnings of widespread human rights violations including torture and extrajudicial killings.
