25 Afghans are suing the German government
25 Afghan citizens have filed lawsuits against the German government at the administrative court in Berlin, supported by the aid initiative "Kabul Luftbrücke" and specialized lawyers, after being given official promises through the federal reception program for Afghanistan, but they are still stuck in Pakistan without entry visas to Germany.
The claimants are living in a state of confusion: they cannot stay in Pakistan due to the risk of deportation, and at the same time, they have been given official promises from the German government allowing them to enter. Some have not completed the final steps of the security check due to a lack of staff at the German embassy in Islamabad, while others have completed all procedures and are only waiting to obtain the visa. The lawsuits target this 'deliberate delay,' as they describe it.
In a separate case, an Afghan researcher and writer filed an urgent request to the court a month ago and is still waiting for a response, although a decision in her case could send a strong message to the government and the judiciary. Hakan Demir, a member of the Social Democratic Party, confirmed that Germany must fulfill its promises to those who have received approvals: "They should be allowed to enter immediately, without the need to resort to the judiciary."
In contrast, Foreign Minister from the CDU party, Johann Fadibol, and Interior Minister from the CSU party, Alexander Dobrindt, are studying the possibility of withdrawing these promises. In cases where individuals received promises from non-federal programs, the government has already begun issuing multiple withdrawal decisions. As for those included in the federal program, the situation is more complicated, and the government justifies this by stating that some Afghans have not yet completed the procedures, such as security interviews, and thus approval is not legally binding yet.
However, lawyer Matthias Lehnert, who supports the lawsuits, rejects this justification and considers the approvals to be "official administrative decisions" that cannot be revoked by a simplified political decision. He points out that the withdrawal clause in the approvals applies only if the circumstances of each case change individually, not as a collective decision by the government. Re-examining all cases seems exhausting and futile, especially since the majority of applicants are still at risk in Afghanistan, and the likelihood of some failing the security check is low, as they all underwent complex procedures involving several German official entities.
Even in the case of withdrawal of approval, it does not mean the end, because those whose files were denied acceptance have the right to file objections and then resort to the judiciary. Indeed, three cases have recently filed lawsuits as mentioned in the government's response to an inquiry from the Green Party. The details of the administrative court cases in the city of Ansbach are still unknown, but in at least two cases, the urgent protection request was rejected. This raises questions about whether these rulings will set legal precedents for the rest of the cases. In any case, it seems that ending the Afghan reception program will not be quick, and the procedures and reviews may continue for years. It is likely that many Afghans will eventually reach Germany through this program.