After the new federal government stopped issuing visas to local staff and particularly threatened persons from Afghanistan, a Berlin court ruled on July 8, 2025, in a first case that visa commitments already made must be honored (tuenews INTERNATIONAL reported: 25071101). A total of around 2,300 people with a promise of admission are still waiting for their visas to be issued in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. The federal government initially lodged an appeal against the Berlin ruling with the Berlin Higher Administrative Court, but withdrew this appeal on August 15.
Court threatens government with penalty payment
The Berlin Administrative Court has now requested the Foreign Office to explain „what steps are being or have been taken to issue visas.” It has currently threatened the Federal Republic of Germany with a penalty payment of €2,500 if the visas are not issued by September 10.
Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) has now assured Deutsche Welle that „Afghans whom the Federal Republic of Germany is obliged to grant visas and allow entry to Germany by virtue of legally binding court decisions will be allowed to enter Germany.” According to media reports, the first families are expected to arrive in Germany on scheduled flights in the coming days.
Deportations of Afghans from Pakistan
Quick action is needed because the Pakistani authorities are expanding their practice of deporting Afghan refugees back to Afghanistan. According to media reports, more than 200 people have already been taken from guest houses in Islamabad and brought to Afghanistan. Pakistan’s government has also announced that 1.3 million Afghans are to be deported in a further operation. An ultimatum is in place, which expires at the end of the month and also affects people in the German reception programs.
ZDF was able to speak to a deported woman on the phone: everything happened very quickly, reported Fahima, an Afghan woman. Without warning, the Pakistani authorities came and brutally dragged her and her four children from the accommodation where she had been waiting for 18 months to leave for Germany: „The children were very frightened. Even one-month-old babies and elderly women were not safe. We were insulted and humiliated.” They are now in accommodation in Kabul and are full of fear about what will happen to them. „The girls in particular fear that they will be taken away, sold, and forced into marriage,” said Fahima.
Open letter to the ministers
More than 80 organizations, including Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, Medico International, Terre des femmes, and the Tübingen initiative move on – menschen.rechte, have now sent an open letter to Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) demanding immediate departure instead of continuing to endanger human lives with delaying tactics. „Act now, before it is too late for many of those affected,” the letter states. The Kabul Airlift initiative handed over a petition with more than 100,000 signatures to the Foreign Office. It calls on the German government to immediately implement the admission commitments that have already been made.
See also: 25040104
To the open letter: Open letter to BMI and AA (PDF)
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