Germany Take In 1000 Afghans each Month
The German Foreign and Interior Ministries launched a new program on Monday to take in Afghan citizens who are most at risk of persecution under the Taliban.
BERLIN — The German government said Monday that it is launching a new program to help to bring about 1,000 people who are at risk of persecution in Afghanistan to Germany each month.
The program is part of an agreement between the three governing parties. It provides a formal structure for the way German authorities were already handling applications from Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover last year.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the new humanitarian relocation program is intended to give those persecuted by the Taliban “a bit of home and the chance of a free, self-determined and secure life.”
She acknowledged that it would be a “mammoth task” to implement the program, including safely getting applicants from Afghanistan to Germany.
“But we won’t let up,” she said.
Applicants will need to be nominated for the program by civil society groups approved by the German government.
German civil society will also play a role in the program, with central coordination funded by the Interior Ministry.
“We will work closely with civil society organizations to carry out the program, using new ways and means of cooperation that have not previously existed,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.
How will Germany organize the program in Afghanistan?
Germany no longer has any diplomatic presence in Afghanistan, making the granting of visas or vetting of applicants to see if they fit the criteria a tricky task.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Cristofer Burger said that “the established structures of the UNHCR [UN refugee agency] and the IOM [International Organization for Migration], that we have previously worked together with in other countries,” are also missing.
German authorities will now work with the organizations that are present in Afghanistan that are best able to say who fits the new criteria for the intake program.
“We are reliant on institutions, organizations, initiatives, that are able to give an assessment of an individual’s situation, that can recommendations with which it can be judged how well they meet the criteria,” Burger told reporters.
The program is a new conception that was designed to continue the support that Germany was already giving to at-risk Afghans trying to flee persecution but which had been pieced together under the interim framework designed to bring local support staff to Germany following the fall of the country to the Taliban.
Who can apply?
Target group:
Afghan national in Afghanistan who:
- have particularly exposed themselves through their commitment to women’s and human rights or through their work in the following areas and therefore, individually endangered:
- Justice
- politics
- media
- education
- culture
- sport
- science
or
- who have experienced specific violence or persecution because of their gender, their sexual orientation or gender identity, or their religion or specific violence or persecution resulting from special circumstances of the individual case and are therefore specifically and individually endangered, in particular as victims of serious individual violations of women’s rights, homophobic or transphobic human rights violations, or as exposed representatives of religious groups/communities.
The german official said to ABC news that this program is aimed at afghans currently residing in Afghanistan who are:
- At risk because of their work for women’s and human rights.
- are Also the following groups:
- journalists,
- scientists,
- political activists,
- judges,
- educators, and
- those persecuted for their gender, sexual orientation or religion.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the new humanitarian resettlement program is willing to give those persecuted by the Taliban “a bit of home and the chance of a free, self-determined and secure life.”
She acknowledged that it would be a “mammoth task” to implement the program, including safely getting applicants from Afghanistan to Germany.
“But we won’t let up,” she said.
How to apply?
Applicants will need to be nominated for the program by civil society groups approved by the German government.
ONLY people residing in Afghanistan are eligible to apply for this program. authorised authorities by federal government Civil society organizations will identify and propose the eligible person by entering required data and information about a person in an digital application provided by the Federal ministry of interior.
