Berlin, Sep 1 (IANS) Germany has announced to lift a month-long freeze on admitting vulnerable Afghan refugees who were earlier promised entry to the country, with over 2,000 Afghans in Pakistan currently awaiting travel to the European country, a report cited on Monday.
Many fled Afghanistan to escape the Taliban and have been seeking refuge in Pakistan, while waiting for years for their German visas.
“A one-month pause on deportations to allow Afghans to formalize their status in Pakistan or leave voluntarily expires Sunday. Pakistan’s government has announced that it intends to resume deportations in September. More than a million people could be affected,” leading German media outlet Deutsche Welle (DW) detailed.
According to the report, DW spoke to one such Afghan family, with the names changed and identities hidden for their safety.
It said, Sharif and his family live in Islamabad under constant fear of arrest and deportation to Afghanistan. Before the Taliban seized power in 2021, Sharif worked in Afghanistan, and following the takeover, he and his family fled to Pakistan.
Due to his past work with international governments, the report stated that Sharif is wanted by the Taliban. Years earlier, it stressed, the German government had guaranteed the Afghans who worked for the Bundeswehr (armed forces of Germany), German press outlets, and human rights NGOs, entry into Germany. Although Sharif’s application was approved, the process had been painfully slow.
“We are facing many problems here. The biggest is the risk of deportation. The police come to the refugee houses every day, and whoever they catch they take away. If we are found during a search and sent back to Afghanistan, I’m 100% sure I will be killed,” DW quoted Sharif as saying.
According to the DW report, Sharif’s family undergoes tremendous strain due to the constant threat. His children can’t attend school, for fear of being discovered, and his wife, despite her education, has no possibility of working.
“My biggest request is that we be transferred to Germany as soon as possible,” DW quoted Sharif’s wife as saying, adding that only then will her children be able to resume their education.
“I never want to return to Afghanistan. Because there we would be killed, and the future of our children would be destroyed,” she added
Citing media reports, DW highlighted that the first Afghan families are slated to arrive in Germany in the coming days following the German administrative court rulings. The court, it said, instructed the German Foreign Ministry to issue the promised visas and warned the government would face penalties if officials fail to comply. The court emphasised that the commitments made by Germany were legally binding.
–IANS
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