Refugees: Visa for Afghans – Court threatens government with penalty money

In the dispute over the granting of Visa for Afghans to enter Germany, the Federal Republic faces a penalty payment of 10,000 euros. This is due according to a decision by the Berlin Administrative Court, unless an Afghan family is decided within three weeks, as a court spokeswoman said at the request of the German Press Agency. (Az.: VG 7 M 229/25 V)

According to the court, it is only a question that a decision is made – not whether it is in favor of or to the disadvantage of those affected. According to the decision, time for this is until September 10th. The Federal Foreign Office was initially not available for a statement.

Many cases in court after stopping from admission

The background is the dispute over the federal recording program for particularly endangered Afghans. The new federal government of Union and SPD stopped the program for the time being at the beginning of May.

At the Berlin Administrative Court, there are now a number of procedures from Afghans who are fighting for the granting of a visa. They are supported partly by the “Kabul Luftbrücke” organization.

At the beginning of this week, the federal government announced that 211 people had recently been deported to their country of origin from Pakistan’s admission program. According to a spokesman for the Federal Foreign Office, the Pakistani authorities had previously arrested around 450 people from the program. The German embassy in Islamabad and the Federal Foreign Office had achieved that 245 of them had come back from the deportation bearings.

According to the spokeswoman for the Berlin Administrative Court, the judges have so far obliged the Federal Government to issue Visa in 22 procedures (as of August 20). In three cases, the court also has applications for enforcement. The “world” had also reported on such cases.

Last week, the Federal Foreign Office withdrew a complaint against a decision. A judgment became final that a law professor and her family members have to be granted.

Family is waiting for Visa in Pakistan

In the current case, it is about promises by the federal government to the parents of six children, two of them. The family is waiting for Visa in Pakistan, it says in the court order. She fears a deportation to Afghanistan, where her life claims to be at risk under the rule of Islamist Taliban.

According to the court, the German embassy in Islamabad of the family had given the family an admission of admission at the end of October 2024 – provided there were no security concerns against the people. So -called security interviews are carried out according to the procedure. These are still pending in the case of the family. According to the court, the federal government has remained idle since the end of October 2024.

Judge: Federal Government must work

Since nothing moved in the matter, the Afghans went to court. At the end of July, they achieved a first success in the urgent procedure: the administrative court obliged the federal government to work. A complaint by the government was unsuccessful before the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court. At the same time, the family called for the enforcement of the decision from July before the administrative court – with success.

Among other things, the Federal Government had argued in court that the admission procedures and visa management were currently exposed to overall. The German embassy in Islamabad is “continuously in close and high -ranking contact with the Pakistani government in order to agree a secure regulation for the affected group of people”.

This was not enough for the Berlin judges. The situation has changed, it said from the OVG. There are reports of a “not inconsiderable number of arrests and deportations of Afghan citizens from the federal government’s admission program by Pakistani authorities”.

In total, more than 2,000 Afghans are waiting for a departure to Germany as part of the various entrance programs. They are, for example, former local powers or are considered to be particularly at risk.

Greens: Federal Government must be responsible

The Green Group Chairman Britta Haßelmann criticized the federal government to stop the recordings. “The Federal Government and in particular the Union as well as Interior Minister Dobrindt are apparently no longer worth the legally binding admission commitments; they steal from responsibility,” she told the dpa. Black and red puts people in danger and damage Germany’s reputation heavily.