Germany halts Afghan refugee admission flights pending new government decision

By Riham Alkousaa

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's outgoing government has suspended flights for voluntary admissions of Afghan refugees for two weeks pending a decision by the next government on how to proceed, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, the future governing coalition of conservatives and Social Democrats (SPD) agreed to curb irregular migration, reflecting a mounting public backlash after several violent attacks by migrants as well as increasing pressure on housing and other infrastructure.

After the Western allies' hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Germany felt a strong obligation to protect former local staff of German agencies and humanitarian organisations there, and established several programmes to resettle them along with particularly vulnerable Afghans.

According to the Federal Foreign Office, a total of 36,000 people have entered Germany under such voluntary programmes, including a good 20,000 who were local staff and their families.

Around 2,600 people approved for admission by Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) are currently waiting in Pakistan for a German visa and charter flights, 350 of whom are former local employees, the foreign office added.

In addition to receiving admission approval, applicants must complete a visa process and security screening involving the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Federal Police, and the Federal Criminal Police Office.

The current Greens-led foreign ministry said that existing admission confirmations were legally binding and could only be revoked under specific conditions. This meant it could be difficult for the new government to cancel them regardless of who takes over the interior or foreign ministries.

Germany's outgoing government arranged several resettlement flights in recent weeks, drawing criticism from conservative politicians who argued that the SPD-Greens coalition was rushing to admit new arrivals before it hands over.

"For several weeks now, we've been seeing planes arrive in Germany on a daily basis. I believe that’s wrong. It creates the impression that an outgoing federal government is trying to establish facts on the ground in its final days," Thorsten Frei, a parliamentary leader of the conservative bloc, said.

ProAsyl, a German NGO providing legal help to asylum seekers, warned that halting the final rescue flights would leave vulnerable Afghans at risk of torture or death if returned to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

"The German government itself has determined their endangerment ... A return or deportation to Afghanistan could mean torture or even death for them," said Wiebke Judith, ProAsyl legal policy spokesperson.

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa, Markus Wacket and Miranda Murray; editing by Mark Heinrich)