According to the most recent report issued by Pakistan's National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), Afghan citizens who have entered the country illegally have been held in local prisons. There are many women and children among those who are suffering under this situation, including multiple pregnant women seeking medical attention.
German NGOs have joined dozens of other humanitarian organizations in suspending their work in Afghanistan, after the Taliban banned women from working for the groups.
The chaotic scenes at Kabul airport last year have come to symbolize the pivotal moment of the violent Taliban takeover in August 2021. But not everyone who scrambled to get onboard a flight succeeded at the time -- even if they qualified.
Germany has introduced a new humanitarian program to help evacuate up to 1,000 people facing persecution in Afghanistan each month. However, some have accused the program of being too elitist and lacklustre.
Thousands of displaced Afghans who lived in the capital Kabul have returned to their homes in rural Afghanistan. Each family received $200 to buy food and other essentials from UN refugee agency UNHCR.
Nearly 75% of Afghans who had worked with and supported German troops and were granted admission to Germany after the Taliban takeover last August, have successfully made their way to Germany.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said she expects more Afghans to be brought to Germany in the near future, following a new agreement with Pakistan.
Thousands of Afghans are still having to wait for an appointment to apply for a German visa to join their families, who have already left the country. The security situation as well as human rights in Afghanistan have worsened since the August 2021 takeover by the Taliban.
The German interior ministry is considering to introduce limitations to admission numbers of Afghan refugees. According to the news magazine Der Spiegel, a maximum of 5,000 Afghans considered to be at risk in their home country will be admitted per year under the plans.
Germany’s Federal Administrative Court has ruled that the key factor in validating a deportation ban is whether deportees will be able to secure their subsistence level "for a foreseeable period" upon return; but it is not legally important whether this is possible on a "sustained basis or even permanently."
Diplomatic tensions between Iran and Afghanistan have been on the rise following the circulation of videos alleged to show Afghan refugees being beaten and humiliated by Iranians over the weekend.
The German human rights organization Pro Asyl published a public appeal for help on behalf of 33 women's rights activists in Afghanistan. The organization pleaded for the women to be accepted immediately by the German government without further delay.