FOURTH GROUP OF AFGHANS FROM PAKISTAN ARRIVES IN GERMANY

A group of Afghans approved for resettlement in Germany has arrived in the northern city of Hanover en route from Pakistan in the fourth such transfer since the current German government took office.

The group of 31 Afghan nationals left Islamabad on a commercial flight with a stopover in Istanbul. The group arrived in Hanover Tuesday evening, where previous groups have also landed before being distributed across the country, an interior ministry spokesman told dpa.

The refugees involved were described as "exclusively persons for whom legally binding court orders oblige the Federal Republic of Germany" to allow entry and issue the necessary visas. All of them had previously undergone an admission procedure and a security check.

The transfer is part of German admission programmes for particularly vulnerable Afghans, including former local staff, human rights defenders and others eligible for protection.

A former school principal from Kabul expressed relief and gratitude after waiting more than a year for her departure. "I want education for my daughters in Germany," she told dpa.

An Afghan journalist travelling with his wife and young son said he felt hopeful about their future, but was saddened that part of his family had to remain in Islamabad.

Many Afghan families have been stranded in Islamabad for months or years, waiting for their chance to leave. Germany's conservative-led coalition government suspended a resettlement programme for particularly vulnerable Afghans in May.

The scheme had covered former local staff of German institutions, their relatives and others fearing persecution by the Taliban, such as lawyers and journalists.

Some Afghans are still being granted visas despite the suspension, after successfully suing in German courts to enforce their right to entry.

According to the German government, around 1,900 Afghans with approved admission or declarations of acceptance remain in Pakistan.

In its coalition agreement, the German government of conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged to end voluntary federal admission programmes such as those for Afghanistan and not to introduce new ones.

2025-11-04T20:03:55Z