Several hundred Afghans are mounting legal challenges against the German government’s withdrawal of their reception commitments. Eva Beyer, a spokesperson for the organization Kabul Luftbrücke, informed the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” that approximately 180 legal cases have been filed with administrative or higher administrative courts in Berlin and Ansbach. Furthermore, 18 constitutional complaints are currently being prepared.
In addition to these cases, 875 Afghans who were part of various German reception programs are currently staying in Pakistan. Another 55 individuals were deported from Pakistan to Afghanistan last summer. Beyer estimates that at least 90 percent of these people have initiated legal action, and likely even more.
Conversely, only 126 people have returned to Afghanistan so far after accepting the German government’s offer to forgo their right to residency in Germany in exchange for money. Typically, one legal claim involves an entire family, averaging about five people per case. Kabul Luftbrücke is coordinating these legal efforts.
The Green Party has sharply criticized the federal government (comprising the CDU/CSU and SPD) for setting deadlines for Afghans to leave the guesthouses in Pakistan. Marcel Emmerich, the Green faction’s spokesperson for domestic policy, told the RND, “It is completely unacceptable that the federal government is abandoning Afghan nationals from German reception programs in Pakistan”. He added that these people are set to lose all support in a matter of days under the federal government’s mandate, even before the Federal Constitutional Court has issued a definitive ruling.
