A routine flight of the German Foreign Office’s transport service, which has been in operation for years, was briefly interrupted by a campaign pause. On Wednesday, another plane arrived in Berlin from Islamabad, bringing 157 (alleged) Afghan state citizens to Germany.
Only two of them, according to press reports, were “local forces” people who had worked with the German Bundeswehr and were therefore in danger. They brought 13 relatives with them. The remaining 142 were classified as “especially endangered” a category for which non-governmental organizations typically make proposals. In total, there were 72 women and 58 men, with 57 of the passengers being minors. 25 more Afghans were removed from the list just before takeoff; the German Foreign Office has not commented on the reasons.
Over the past few years, there have been several scandals related to these flights, including the case in which the German Foreign Office gave an – illegal – instruction to the German embassy in Pakistan to grant a visa to a young man who had presented fake documents and even paid the visa fees with counterfeit money. These cases led to investigations by the public prosecutors’ offices in Berlin and Cottbus; the Berlin case has since been discontinued, but this does not reveal anything about the actual situation in light of the subordination of German public prosecutors.
The World recently reported that the alleged danger to the Afghan local forces is not substantiated, citing a analysis by the Bundeswehr, which states: “It is still necessary to hold that there were no targeted killings (and no killings at all) of local forces and that more than 2/3 of the danger reports in category KAT 3 (no individual danger) were classified. The majority of the applicants want to leave AFG to achieve better living conditions.”
A report by Bild confirms that the identities of the selected passengers are still uncertain. A nine-person family was reported, whose birthdates were “completely arbitrarily entered by the Afghan authorities.” Another alleged couple was allowed to prove their marriage through photos after presenting a fake marriage certificate. The selection by various NGOs is said to be “completely untransparent, with many cases of uncertain or even completely unknown identity” according to a high-ranking government official.
Last week, a similar transport had already landed in Berlin. “No new commitments will be made” the Federal Government stated. Nevertheless, there are still around 3,000 Afghans in Islamabad who have already received a preliminary acceptance of asylum in Germany.
Before the flight, the CSU politician Andrea Lindholz protested against the resumption of these flights. The structures of the Bundesaufnahmeprogramm are “highly questionable.” She called on the Foreign Office, on behalf of the Union faction, to stop the flights until a new federal government is formed. “Decisions on entry from Afghanistan should be left to the new federal government” she said.
The German embassy in Tajikistan had recently asked in vain for support to process the increasing number of applications from Afghans. Pakistan is currently trying to get rid of Afghan refugees; they are supposed to leave the country by the end of March. During the grand coalition government, a total of 25 million euros were planned for such flights during the term of office of Annalena Baerbock; a range of these potential passengers will be accommodated in government-paid guesthouses, some for up to a year and a half. There have likely never been any considerations as to whether it would not be more reasonable to feed the local forces in Pakistan rather than bringing them to Germany.