The German government has expressed concern over the deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan. The situation for Afghan refugees in their neighboring country has deteriorated significantly since the fall of 2023, according to the Foreign Office in response to an inquiry. The federal government is in close contact with the Pakistani authorities and is consistently working to maintain protection for refugees.

Pakistan is one of the largest host countries for Afghan people worldwide. Over the past four decades, marked by war and conflict in Afghanistan, many people fled to the eastern neighboring country. According to estimates, three to four million Afghans live in Pakistan to date. However, their residency status has never been definitively resolved by the Pakistani authorities.

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Waiting in Pakistan

Currently, more than 3,000 Afghans who have received approval for admission to Germany after undergoing a thorough review process by German authorities as part of various aid programs are residing in Pakistan. Since Germany does not have an embassy in Afghanistan, these individuals were required to travel to Pakistan, where they often faced months of waiting for their security clearance and visa for Germany.

In many cases, they had to sell or leave behind all their belongings in Afghanistan to make the journey. They are being supported, funded, and housed in guesthouses operated by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) on behalf of the federal government, according to a report by the Tagesschau.

On December 31, 2024, Pakistani security forces visited these guesthouses to apprehend and deport Afghans who were in German asylum procedures. According to reports by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the WDR, six individuals were detained, including a former local staff member of the German government. After their arrest, they were deported across the border to a camp in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Two of them reportedly have been able to return to Islamabad since, with Germany’s support.

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Deportations 'a matter of concern'

The Foreign Office told the Tagesschau that the deportation of Afghan nationals by Pakistan "is a matter of concern for the federal government." The German embassy in Islamabad is in close contact with the Pakistani authorities to facilitate the swift return of deported individuals to Pakistan. Individuals in the admission programs of other countries are also affected by the measure.

In the past, Pakistani security authorities refrained from deporting former Afghan local staff members under German care, as long as they could demonstrate that they had prospects for a visa to Germany. The German federal admissions program (Bundesaufnahmeprogramm) for Afghan refugees has faced significant criticism due to its slow pace and bureaucratic hurdles. And it seems that Pakistani authorities have now become suspicious about the lengthy processing times for visas by German authorities in Pakistan.

The Foreign Office stated that, to its knowledge, individuals currently undergoing asylum procedures in Germany or other countries are not the target of these deportations. All persons under the care of the German government in Pakistan receive support letters from the German Embassy in Islamabad to prove their ongoing visa process to the Pakistani authorities, the ministry added.

After the fall of Kabul in August 2021, more than 36,000 Afghans, primarily former local staff, have resettled to Germany. As part of the federal admissions program, which allows individuals at risk due to their work in human rights or fields such as justice, education, and politics to enter Germany, the Foreign Office has issued over 3,000 commitments. To date, more than 1,000 individuals have successfully entered the country through these programs.

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