Afghans seeking German visas in Pakistan fear deportation – DW – 07/29/2025

DW

a day ago

Thousands of Afghans approved for resettlement in Germany remain stranded in Pakistan, leaving them in limbo. Some report being harassed by Pakistani authorities.
In a small, rented room in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, ZK (not her real name), a 40-year-old Afghan woman, lives her days like a prisoner.
She spends most of her time cooking, singing, dancing and watching the news.
ZK, an Afghan journalist from Badakhshan province, was one of the first women to work as a news anchor in Afghanistan. In doing so, she broke barriers in the war-ravaged country's archconservative Islamic society.
After the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, they began rolling back progress achieved in the previous two decades when it came to women's rights.
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ZK fled to Pakistan in 2023 after she was accepted into a German humanitarian admission program designed for Afghans at risk under the Islamic fundamentalist group's regime.
It was originally meant to be a short stay before she and her children were relocated to Germany, but has now stretched to over two years.
This has left her uncertain about when they will be able to finally make the move to the European country.
ZK said she had faced repeated harassment by Pakistani authorities, as well as detention and deportation back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in February.
"I have been living in Pakistan for two years, waiting for my German visa, but delays in the process have hindered my journey. In February, I was arrested by Islamabad police and deported back to Afghanistan with my two sons," ZK told DW.
"Thanks to my journalist friends, I managed to obtain a visa and return to Pakistan. At the time of my arrest, my daughter was hiding in fear of the police and was left alone in Pakistan," she added.
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Following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, the German government promised to make it possible for people whose safety was in danger to come to Germany with their families.
These humanitarian admission programs primarily intended to help Afghans who had worked for the German military, as well as people actively involved in cultural, economic, scientific and academic fields, and those who had worked for the former Afghan government.
According to figures from Germany's Foreign Ministry, some 36,300 Afghans have so far come to Germany under the relevant schemes, including almost 20,800 locally employed staff.
But around 2,400 people approved for admission are still waiting in Islamabad in Pakistan, as there is no longer a German diplomatic mission in Afghanistan itself.
In Pakistan, they are housed in guest apartments belonging to the German government while they undertake seemingly interminable visa applications and security checks.
Even though many of them have received firm promises from German authorities that they can come to Germany, they now face an uncertain future as the current German government, under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, has pledged a tougher stance on asylum and irregular migration.
As a part of that push, Berlin has vowed to halt refugee admission programs, and is reviewing whether existing commitments can be revoked.
The situation has left the Afghans in Pakistan awaiting resettlement in Germany in limbo.
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Meanwhile, Pakistan, which for decades had served as refuge for Afghans fleeing from wars or oppressive regimes, has mounted a series of expulsion and deportation drives targeting Afghans since late 2023.
The deportation offensive has targeted not only undocumented Afghans but also those with valid papers or awaiting resettlement in third countries such as Germany and the US.
Aziz Gull, a 25-year-old Afghan rights activist in Islamabad, expressed her despair to DW, saying, "Our hopes are shattered, and we are homeless. No country is accepting us. My file has been sent to the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but I have not received any confirmation yet. My case at the German Foreign Office is currently on hold, leaving my fate uncertain."
Gull, originally from Maidan Wardak province in Afghanistan, arrived in Pakistan in July 2024 and applied for a humanitarian visa through a German NGO.
She added, "We face the threat of police harassment, forced deportation from Pakistan, and the Taliban will kill me because of my activism in Afghanistan."
Several Afghans DW spoke to said they had been harassed by Pakistani authorities, and expressed fears of being deported to Afghanistan as a result of delayed resettlement in Germany.
But a Pakistani Foreign Ministry official, who asked not to be named, denied allegations of harassment.
The official instead blamed Germany for "not acting quickly to address the situation" and process the visa applications of the stranded Afghans.
"The pressure should be on Germany, not us," the official said, adding: "The police are currently checking the status of undocumented Afghans and deporting those without visas or lacking legal documents to remain in Pakistan."
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Umer Gilani, a lawyer in Islamabad providing legal services to Afghan refugees, described the situation of Afghans stranded in Pakistan as "dire."
"They have been repeatedly harassed by the police and seeking constant extensions of their Pakistan visas which means living in extreme anxiety," he added.
Even if you leave the costs aside, Gilani pointed out, "there is no shortage of people whose visas expired and got summarily deported back to Afghanistan, putting their lives and liberty at risk."
Gull, the Afghan rights activist in Islamabad, said she was "deeply concerned about the possibility of being forcibly returned to Afghanistan."
Over the past few years, the Taliban have banished women and girls from almost all areas of public life.
Girls have been barred from attending school beyond sixth grade, and women have been prohibited from local jobs and nongovernmental organizations.
The Taliban have ordered the closure of beauty salons and barred women from going to gyms and parks. Women also can't go out without a male guardian.
Outside the home, women and girls are required to hide not only their faces and bodies but also their voices.
"Going back would likely result in imprisonment or even execution for us," said Gull.
ZK, the female journalist, shares a similar view. "Returning to Afghanistan means death. The Taliban had already killed my husband."