Flights resume after federal election: 155 Afghans land in Berlin with admission promise

155 Afghans have arrived in Berlin with a promise of admission to Germany. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, more than half of the passengers are part of the federal admission program for particularly vulnerable people from Afghanistan. The remaining travelers received their acceptance through the local staff procedure, the human rights list or a bridging program. The charter flight took off from the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

Before the federal election last Sunday, the government had reportedly temporarily suspended the entry of Afghans and canceled two flights from Islamabad at short notice. "The postponements of the current flights were initiated by the Foreign Office," a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior said when asked. Reasons for changes could include the current situation in Islamabad, capacities at the airport there or the landing airports in Germany, capacities for interim accommodation before distribution to the federal states or the provision of charter aircraft.

According to the Federal Foreign Office, more than 35,000 people have been able to enter Germany since the start of the various admission procedures after the fall of Kabul in August 2021. As part of the federal admission program, around 3,000 people have received a confirmation, and 1,000 people have actually entered the country so far.

Representatives of the CDU/CSU and FDP wanted to negotiate with the Taliban

The Foreign Office recently expressed concern about the situation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, where many Afghans are waiting to enter Germany or other Western countries. Afghans are expected to leave the capital Islamabad and neighboring Rawalpindi by the end of March, a local police spokesman confirmed to dpa.

At the same time, before the federal election and after the attack in Munich, calls for renewed debates about deportations to Afghanistan were heard in Germany. Representatives of the CDU/CSU and FDP spoke out in favor of negotiations with the Islamist Taliban in order to facilitate deportations.

Saxony's Interior Minister Armin Schuster sharply criticized the continuation of flights to Germany. "We states have repeatedly called for the immediate halt to the reception programs," said the CDU politician. It was a "remarkable impudence" on the part of the federal government to "stop the flights in a media-effective manner" before the election, only to allow them to take place again immediately after the election.

According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the costs of the federal reception program for particularly vulnerable Afghans have so far amounted to around 25 million euros.