Germany weighs fate of Afghans in Pakistan as deportations intensify

By Riham Alkousaa

BERLIN (Reuters) -The German government is reviewing whether Afghans stranded in Pakistan while awaiting resettlement in Germany will indeed be allowed to go there, its interior minister said on Thursday, as Islamabad intensifies deportations of Afghans.

Pakistan has begun to deport documented Afghan refugees ahead of its September 1 deadline for them to leave, according to the United Nations, a step that could see more than 1 million Afghans expelled from the country.

Among them are more than 2,000 Afghans awaiting visas to travel to Germany under an admission programme designed to evacuate people considered to be at risk under Taliban rule in Pakistan's neighbour Afghanistan.

A source familiar with the matter said detentions of Afghans for deportation over the border have continued, even during Pakistan's Independence Day holiday on Thursday.

"People with German admission approval are being brought to the Torkham border (between Pakistan and Afghanistan) as we speak," the source told Reuters.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt confirmed that some Afghans in Germany's resettlement scheme "have recently drawn the attention of Pakistani authorities", and Berlin was in discussions with Islamabad over their status.

"We are reviewing whether these people can actually leave for Germany. Whether this actually happens depends on the outcome of the review process," Dobrindt told journalists.

Germany's admission programme for at-risk Afghans - launched in October 2022 by the centre-left government in office at the time - is now under review following February's migration-focused election won by conservatives.

The new centre-right coalition intends to close the scheme, which had already been suspended pending an ongoing review.

Since May 2021, Germany has admitted about 36,500 Afghans seen as vulnerable to Taliban crackdowns, but the conservative-led government says humanitarian migration now exceeds the country's integration capacity.

On Wednesday, Germany's foreign ministry said it was in close contact with Pakistani authorities and using established emergency mechanisms to prevent deportations of Afghans.

The interior ministry said it could not provide a timeline to determine the future of the admission programme but expects decisions soon. It did not say whether the increase in deportations from Pakistan would hasten a decision.

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa, Markus Wacket, Martin Schlicht and Leon Malherbe in Berlin, Charlotte Greenfield in Islamabad; editing by Miranda Murray and Mark Heinrich)