Government wants to protect Afghan refugees in Pakistan
The German government wants to protect Afghan refugees from mass deportations from Pakistan by promising to take them into Germany. "The protective measures include the transmission of a list of persons residing in Pakistan and to be admitted to Germany to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry," according to a response from the German government to a question from Clara Bünger, a member of the Left Party's interior policy. The answer is available to the German Press Agency in Berlin.
The Pakistani authorities can use this list to check whether a person is entitled to leave for Germany. Those at acute risk of deportation could also prove their admission permit and thus their protection from deportation to the Pakistani authorities with individual letters of support.
At the beginning of October, the government in Islamabad announced that it would deport refugees without residence status. According to government figures, there were around 4.4 million Afghan refugees living in the country at the time, 1.7 million of whom were without valid papers. Pakistan officially cites security concerns as the reason for the deportation campaign, which is taking place just a few months before the parliamentary elections in February.
According to the German government, around 11,500 people from Afghanistan who have been accepted by the Federal Republic are currently waiting to leave for Germany. Of these, around 3,000 are in Pakistan, 300 in Iran and more than 8,000 in Afghanistan. Since the end of June, 573 Afghans have actually entered the country.
Of those entitled to enter the country, 572 have been granted admission under the federal admission program. Particularly vulnerable Afghans can come to Germany via the federal admission program. It is aimed at people who are particularly exposed due to their commitment to women and human rights or their work in the fields of justice, politics, media, education, culture, sport or science. The program should offer the prospect of accepting 1,000 Afghans per month.
Left-wing MP Bünger explained that many refugees who have been granted asylum in Germany are at serious risk of deportation. "The fact that the Pakistani government's deportation policy is threatening so many Afghans with a promise of admission to Germany is largely due to the sluggish implementation of the various admission programs by the German government," said the MP. She called on the German government to speed up the admission procedure. "Extended security checks can, if necessary, also be carried out after entry into Germany," said Bünger.
The federal government's efforts to protect Afghan refugees in Germany have been impacted by conflicts between political parties over the speed of the admission process. This was highlighted by Clara Bünger, a member of the Bundestag from the Left Party, who criticized the slow implementation of admission programs.
Despite ongoing conflicts and tensions, several German political parties have expressed their support for the inclusion of particularly vulnerable Afghans in war-stricken regions, including those involved in women's rights advocacy and humanitarian work.
Source: www.dpa.com
