**This article was updated on November 14 after receiving additional information from the German Army (Bundeswehr) regarding contacts for Afghan local staff currently in Pakistan, and waiting for admission to Germany.

Germany has taken in about 20,000 former Afghan support staff and their family members since January 2022. Most were people working for the Bundeswehr and in development cooperation jobs. However, Germany continues to face problems helping Afghan former employees and others who remain in danger under the Taliban regime.

The situation has worsened for many Afghan nationals who traveled to Pakistan with visas expecting onward travel to Germany, but often due to the long waits are now facing expulsion from Pakistan after their visas, in many cases, expired. German foreign office officials have said they are in "close contact" with Pakistani authorities about Afghan nationals who have received confirmation of admission to Germany.

On November 2, a foreign office spokesperson said that Afghans in Pakistan who had been admitted by Germany under the so-called federal admission program would be exempt from deportation. But InfoMigrants understands that at least some of these people are also facing expulsion from Pakistan.

The federal admission program is for people who face personal risk because they worked in the fields of human rights, women’s rights, justice, politics, media, education, culture, sport or academia. Information can be found here:

https://www.bundesaufnahmeprogrammafghanistan.de/bundesaufnahme-en

Notice to former Bundeswehr employees

On November 13**, InfoMigrants learned from the office responsible for German military (Bundeswehr) Afghan local staff that it has been unable to make contact with all eligible former employees. In light of the mass expulsions from Pakistan, the office is now advising anyone who worked for the Bundeswehr ISAF/RS mission up to January 2013 or later to contact:

Email: RSMESEinsWVStOKV@bundeswehr.org

The following contacts remain relevant to Afghan nationals who worked for other German organizations

• Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt)

Email: okv@kabu.auswaertiges-amt.de

• GIZ - German Development Organization (Deutsche Gesellschaft für International Zusammenarbeit)

Email: okv-afghanistan@giz.de

• Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung)

Email: okv@bmz.bund.de

For other counseling and protection inquiries, the following contacts continue to apply

• UNHCR Afghanistan

https://help.unhcr.org/afghanistan/

Protection hotline: 0791990225, 0790691746 and 0704996168 (Toll free and available on all working days from 8:00am-4:00pm) or Protection email (afgkaprt@unhcr.org)

• Awaaz

https://awaazaf.org/

Helpline: 410 (toll-free and available seven days a week)

Important to note:

It is not safe to send documents containing your personal information: please do not send them to InfoMigrants.

Never accept an offer to buy a visa for Germany. This is fraud and will result in you losing money.

Please delete posts from your social media accounts that may put you at risk, such as photos that show you serving as locally engaged staff or with the Bundeswehr.