Rights groups sue German ministers over deportation of Afghans from Pakistan

By Riham Alkousaa

BERLIN (Reuters) -Advocacy groups filed a criminal case against Germany's foreign and interior ministers on Friday, accusing them of failing to protect Afghan nationals in Pakistan with German admission approvals from deportation to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

Pakistan has begun deporting documented Afghan refugees ahead of a September 1 deadline, a move the United Nations warns could force more than one million to leave. 

Among those at risk are more than 2,000 Afghans approved for relocation to Germany under programmes for people deemed vulnerable under Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

The relocations have been put on hold, pending a review by Germany's new conservative-led government as it tries to deliver on its election promise to curb migration.

Refugee group PRO ASYL and the Patenschaftsnetzwerk Ortskraefte, a non-profit supporting former local staff who worked for Germany, filed a criminal complaint with Berlin prosecutors against Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt.

By allowing Pakistan to deport Afghans already accepted into German resettlement programmes, they said, the ministers had committed "abandonment" and "failure to render assistance" to people at risk under Section 221 of the Criminal Code.

They said more than 400 people approved for relocation to Germany had been arrested in Pakistan in recent weeks and 34 people had already been deported. Deportees face grave risks under Taliban rule, including imprisonment, mistreatment or execution, the groups said. 

Victoria Lies, a lawyer who represents several of those affected, said some of her clients had been separated from their families, and in one case, a girl had been sent back to Afghanistan alone.

The foreign and interior ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.

However, Wadephul said on Friday his ministry was in "high-level contact with the Pakistani government to ensure the protection of these people and to provide rapid assistance to those who have been deported or arrested in recent days".

The interior ministry has said it cannot provide a timeline to determine the future of the admission programme but expects decisions soon.     

The two NGOs' complaint builds on a July 8 legal opinion commissioned by them, which said German officials could be criminally liable if they fail to prevent the deportations.

It adds to more than 80 lawsuits by affected Afghans seeking German government approval for their visas, with courts siding with them in some cases, though the interior ministry has appealed those rulings.

(Reporting by Riham AlkousaaEditing by Gareth Jones)