RASC News Agency: The Federal Republic of Germany has temporarily suspended all charter flights related to the admission of Afghanistani refugees, citing an impending political transition and the need for the incoming administration to reassess and determine the strategic course of its humanitarian resettlement programs. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the German Federal Foreign Office confirmed that flights would be paused for a period of two weeks. The suspension affects those awaiting relocation under Germany’s voluntary admission schemes, which were established following the 2021 withdrawal of the United States and NATO allies from Afghanistan and the subsequent return of Taliban rule.
Since the inception of these programs, approximately 36,000 individuals have been successfully relocated to German territory, over 20,000 of whom are former local staff members interpreters, development workers, and support personnel alongside their immediate family members. These individuals were deemed to be at heightened risk due to their affiliations with Western institutions during the NATO presence in Afghanistan. Earlier this month, Germany’s incoming governing coalition an alliance of conservative and social democratic parties reached a consensus to impose stricter controls on irregular migration. This move follows mounting public concern over recent violent incidents involving asylum seekers, as well as the increasing strain on Germany’s housing, healthcare, and social service infrastructure.
The Foreign Office further disclosed that an estimated 2,600 Afghanistani nationals who have already received official admission clearance from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) are currently stranded in Pakistan. Among them are 350 former local employees awaiting final visa approvals and their subsequent charter flights to Germany. Despite receiving formal acceptance, these applicants must still undergo comprehensive visa processing and multi-agency security vetting. These assessments are conducted by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Federal Police, and the Federal Criminal Police Office, ensuring that all entrants meet Germany’s national security and legal standards.
Officials from the Foreign Ministry, currently overseen by the Green Party, reiterated that these admissions are legally binding and can only be rescinded under extraordinary and narrowly defined circumstances. This legal safeguard is expected to complicate any potential attempts by the new administration to reverse or dilute existing commitments regardless of which parties assume control over the Ministries of the Interior or Foreign Affairs. The decision to suspend flights has left thousands of vulnerable Afghanistani nationals in a state of legal and humanitarian limbo, many of whom have been languishing in third countries for months. Human rights organizations and migration advocates have urged the incoming government to uphold Germany’s moral and legal obligations and to ensure that political recalibration does not come at the expense of lives imperiled by the Taliban regime.
