Risk of deportation
Government wants protection for Afghan refugees in Pakistan
Afghans wait in Chaman in a camp set up by authorities to deport people living in Pakistan illegally back to their home country. photo
© Jafar Khan/AP/dpa
Thousands of Afghans are currently being deported from Pakistan. Some have a promise that they can come to Germany. How does the federal government guarantee protection from deportation?
The federal government wants Afghan refugees with a promise of admission to Germany before the mass deportations Protect Pakistan. “The protective measures include sending a list of people staying in Pakistan and to be admitted to Germany to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry,” says the federal government in response to a query from left-wing domestic politician Clara Bünger. The answer is available to the German Press Agency in Berlin.
The Pakistani authorities could use this list to check whether a person is entitled to leave for Germany. Those at acute risk of deportation could also provide individual letters of support to prove their admission permit and thus protection from deportation to the Pakistani authorities.
The government in Islamabad announced at the beginning of October that it would deport refugees without residence status. According to government figures, around 4.4 million Afghan refugees lived in the country, 1.7 million of them without valid papers. Pakistan officially cites security concerns as the reason for the deportation campaign, which comes just months before parliamentary elections in February.
According to the federal government, around 11,500 people from Afghanistan who have been accepted by the Federal Republic of Germany 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. In fact, 573 affected Afghans have arrived since the end of June.
Of those eligible to enter the country, 572 had a confirmation of admission as part of the federal admission program. Afghans who are particularly at risk can come to Germany through the federal admission program. It is aimed at people who are particularly exposed through their commitment to women and human rights or through their work in the areas of justice, politics, media, education, culture, sport or science. The program is intended to accommodate 1,000 Afghans per month.
The left-wing MP Bünger explained that many refugees who have been accepted into Germany are at massive risk of deportations. “The fact that the Pakistani government’s deportation policy threatens so many Afghans with acceptance into Germany is largely due to the slow implementation of the various admission programs by the federal government,” said the Bundestag member. She called on the federal government to speed up the admission process. “Extended security checks can, if necessary, also be carried out after entry into Germany,” said Bünger.