Germany Must Honour Visa Obligations to Afghan Refugees, Rules Court

8/7/2025 19:10

A German court ruled on Tuesday that the government is obliged to issue visas to Afghan nationals and their family members who were accepted into a

humanitarian admissions programme that the new centre-right coalition intends to shut down.



After the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 by Western allies, Germany established several programmes to resettle local staff as well as particularly vulnerable Afghans.



Since May 2021, Germany has admitted about 36,500 vulnerable Afghans including former local staff by various pathways.



Some 2,400 Afghans approved for admission are waiting in Pakistan to travel to Germany without a clear idea of when, as the programme has been suspended pending a government review, the foreign ministry in Berlin said this month.