Exclusive
As of: 10/28/2021 9:56 a.m.
Shortly before the Taliban came to power, German immigration authorities deported people to Kabul. According to monitor research, this also includes those who actually have a right to stay.
The story of his odyssey begins in the picturesque Allgäu. Until a few months ago, Amir lived here with his wife Zeynep, who is seven months pregnant. The pictures on the wall tell of happiness. Amir and Zeynep in front of a romantic Bavarian mountain backdrop. Amir and Zeynep in the registry office. Everything seemed perfect, Zeynep tells us. “We could rent this apartment together, we could get married. It was a life like any other of us leads.”
But at the end of May, the Central Immigration Office in Swabia issued a letter to Amir: Either he is leaving now “voluntarily” or he is threatened with deportation.
The hour of bureaucracy
Amir’s story shows the absurdity of German refugee policy. Six years ago Amir came to the Allgäu as a refugee via the Balkan route. He learned German, found a steady job and married Zeynep, who is German. As a spouse, Amir has a legal right to stay in Germany – actually.
Because this is the hour of bureaucracy. Because Amir came as a refugee and his asylum application was rejected shortly before the wedding, he is considered illegal. Wedding or not. Therefore, according to the authorities, he must first leave Germany and go through a so-called visa procedure. Then he could re-enter with a visa. If he does not leave “voluntarily”, he is threatened with deportation.
Leave and re-enter? Just so that everything is back to the way it was before? That is completely absurd, says Stephan Dünnwald from the Bavarian Refugee Council. “In my opinion, this is not a harassment,” said the migration expert. “This is a refugee policy that does not rely on reason, but on defense.”
The new rulers in Kabul
Amir left at the end of May – and ended up in a nightmare. He was able to apply for a visa, but then it was time to wait in Kabul. The same Kabul that was overrun by the Taliban shortly afterwards. Amir was stuck. Fearful of the Taliban – and without the opportunity to leave. Like many local workers who had worked with German and other international organizations, he suffered: Afghans with relatives in Germany, some of whom have had a legal right to family reunification for years. They all live in fear of the Taliban’s arbitrariness to this day. “They have machine guns,” says Amir. “Anything can happen. Maybe they’ll shoot me – or I’ll go to jail.”
In Germany, the now heavily pregnant Zeynep lives in constant fear for her husband. To this day she cannot understand why he had to leave the country. “He had a permanent contract,” says Zeynep. “He had just got his driver’s license, bought a car.”
There was no other solution than the “voluntary” departure, explains the immigration authorities monitor-Inquiry. The dramatic development in Afghanistan was “not yet foreseeable” shortly before the Taliban came to power. been. The accusation of joint responsibility for Amir’s fate is therefore “unfounded”.
But was there really no other solution? Of course there would have been, says specialist lawyer for migration law Bettina Feix. “The immigration authorities should have taken into account that my client is firmly integrated into the work process. They should have taken into account that the visa process takes a very, very long time.” The authority should also have taken into account that Amir was well integrated, spoke German well, had never been noticed negatively, and was able to regulate the formalities in Germany. “Instead she insisted on leaving the country!” so Feix. That’s the only reason why Amir is now in Kabul and not coming out.
Almost every week Amir tried to get out of the country somehow. Vain. The fact that he cannot be by the side of his pregnant wife makes him despair more every day. In the Allgäu, Zeynep continues to hope that Amir can enter the country soon. She wanted to furnish the nursery together with her husband. Now she did it on her own. She hopes that Amir will make it out – somehow.