Afghanistan | Foreign Minister Wadephul: When the symbol counts more than the people

Even a promise to accept refugees sounds contemptuous to Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul—so focused is his policy on isolation. All he can think of about the approximately 2,400 Afghans he now grudgingly has to bring to Germany is that it was a "wrong decision" by the traffic light coalition to even consider bringing them to safety from Afghanistan .

Not a word about who these people are. That they include individuals to whom Germany owes a debt because they worked as former local staff in Afghanistan. That they are human rights defenders, journalists, and democracy activists who opposed the Taliban.

If the Berlin Administrative Court had not ruled at the beginning of the month that the federal government must, of course, keep its word , the CDU politician would probably have let down even those who had already received a firm promise of admission and who have since been waiting in Pakistan for their visa for the Federal Republic.

This is one of the reasons why it's difficult to consider the renewed commitment a success. It also represents a rejection of tens of thousands of other people to whom the previous government had promised admission – and who remain at risk due to the halt to the admission programs, which Wadephul has confirmed.

The Foreign Minister is, of course, aware that many of them will still make their way to Europe – not by direct flight, but via life-threatening escape routes. But his policy is one in which the symbol counts more than the people. How else could the Foreign Minister talk in almost the same breath about deporting people to Syria shortly after heavy fighting broke out there.