Federal recording programs: Pakistan determines about 280 Afghans from recording programs

Pakistan has arrested around 280 Afghans in the past few days who have been waiting for their departure to Germany. According to DPA information 35, they have already been deported to Afghanistan. From the Federal Foreign Office, it says: “The Federal Government is in high -ranking contact with the Pakistani government through the German Embassy Islamabad and Berlin in order to clarify the situation as quickly as possible.”

At the moment, more than 2,000 Afghans are waiting for a departure to Germany as part of the various recording programs in Pakistan. They are former local forces or are particularly at risk. Since the German embassy in Kabul has been closed to the Islamist Taliban in August 2021 since Afghanistan, they run through a test procedure in Pakistan. For months alone, months of talking with the security authorities.

Federal government is trying to release the prisoners

The first goal is to ensure the protection and safety of the particularly endangered people, according to the Federal Foreign Office. In addition, the deported should be made possible to return to Pakistan in compliance with the regulations on residence law. “In the case of particularly endangered persons who were arrested by Pakistani authorities, we strive for their release and their continued support from our service provider on site.”

From the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) it was said on request that there were recently again employees of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees in Pakistan. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) announced this as part of his summer tour. According to the BMI, there is currently an individual case for each person, which is located in the entrance programs from the last election period for Afghan citizens. The first question is whether there is a legally binding commitment commitment for Germany.

Afghans in Pakistan told the dpa that there were raids in several accommodations on Wednesday. These also continued on Thursday. An owner of a guest house in Islamabad said that seven families were arrested in his accommodation. In another guest house, according to a guard, nine families were taken by authorities on Thursday. A police spokesman in Islamabad said that the raids against Afghans want to continue in the coming weeks and months – also in the guest houses.

Residents fear further arrests – also journalists in the deportation camp

The dpa also has statements from an Afghan who has already been brought to the border town of Peschawar. Another resident of the guest houses reported families who had already gripped their suitcases for fear of further arrests. According to the reporter without borders, the Pakistani police also brought a journalist to a deportation camp on Wednesday. The organization asked the federal government to work for its release.

It was not immediately clear whether the events with Pakistan’s general measures against migrants and refugees from Afghanistan are related or specifically directed against Afghans in the German recording program. It can be assumed that the Pakistani authorities know in which guest houses Afghan are in the German recording program.

Criticism of German authorities

From Kabul Luftbrücke it was said in a message that the organization constantly reached new calls for help. Pakistani security forces would sometimes apply violence and the organization would also have reports that families were separated. “The German embassy Islamabad can obviously not effectively protect those affected,” it said. Kabul Airbrücke called for the bypass exhibition of the visas for those affected.

Coalition had stopped recording programs in early May

After the Taliban was taken over, various admission procedures for Afghans were set up in Germany. Other recording programs, for example for the Bundeswehr, have existed for a long time. The new federal government of Union and SPD stopped the programs in early May.

According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, around 350 former local powers of German institutions are among the Afghans in the entrance programs. In the past, there has always been criticism that the admission procedures are deleted for too long. The Pakistani authorities had temporarily arrested several Afghans with admission to Germany in recent months.

Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) said on the sidelines of a summer trip through Saxony-Anhalt when asked whether people were already brought back to Afghanistan, there is a contact with these people through the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and there is also support for them. It is also checked in each individual case whether there is a legally binding obligation to admit. And a security check is carried out.

Pakistan has been pushing Afghans massively since 2023

Pakistan had started the mass deportation of unregistered Afghan refugees at the end of 2023. The country has also been reporting registered people since April. In the long term, Islamabad is planning to designate three million Afghans. According to observers, Pakistan wants to increase the pressure on the Islamist Taliban in Afghanistan with the mass deportations.