More and more Afghan nationals with acceptance to Germany are presenting their cases in court after waiting several years for reception. Among them is a former Afghan judge and his family. They are now taking their case to the highest German court, having waited nearly three years to be granted passage to Germany.
An Afghan family accepted as part of a German resettlement program has taken their case before the Federal Constitutional Court after failing at the lower courts.
According to the Society for Civil Rights (Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte), which is supporting the lawsuit, the family are hoping to obtain a temporary visa by raising this complaint and submitting an urgent application.
The family comprises a former supreme judge from Afghanistan with his wife and four children.
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First case escalated to Germany's top court
According to reports, the family received a declaration of admission from the German government in December 2022, and have reportedly been waiting in Pakistan since then.
Facing deportation to their home country due to the Pakistani government's policy in recent months, the family are therefore hoping to be transferred to Germany imminently.
The family already filed a lawsuit and an urgent application for a visa before the Berlin Administrative Court last June, winning their case.
However, the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court later overturned the decision, considering the German government's declaration of acceptance of the family a non-binding political decision from which the German government could also withdraw.
This came at a time when German lawmakers had just introduced new bills to stop nearly all voluntary humanitarian acceptance programs and following a freeze on admissions to iron out administrative and bureaucratic errors.
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Life and livelihoods under threat
The Society for Civil Rights argues that the declaration of acceptance is however legally binding as a document issued by the federal government.
The group says that their lives would be in grave danger if they were to be taken back to Afghanistan, as the father of the family had sentenced members of the radical Islamic Taliban in his capacity as a judge.
The Society for Civil Rights added that they knew that the man and his family were in particular danger since his father had been murdered in retaliation.
"For years, I defended human rights in Afghanistan as a judge," the Afghan man said in a statement issued by the Society for Civil Rights, adding that he had relied on Germany's promise to resettle the family, selling all his belongings and going to Pakistan to prepare for the move to Germany.
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A spokesperson for the Federal Constitutional Court confirmed the receipt of the case, highlighting that the Afghan judge and his family were asserting the violation of several fundamental rights under German law.
These include the right to effective legal protection and to a fair hearing, the protection of legitimate expectations, human dignity, the right to life and physical integrity, and the right to equal treatment.
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2,000 people still waiting in Pakistan
In September, a total 75 Afghan citizens entered Germany under these admission programs, all of whom had successfully obtained their visas by taking the German government to court.
All of those cases, however, could be finalized at various administrative court levels; none of the cases has so far needed to be presented before the Federal Constitutional Court.
According to a statement by the federal government, there are still about 2,000 Afghans from various admission programs living in Pakistan.
The German government said that until the end of 2025, most if not all of them would be transferred.
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with EPD, KNA