New flight brings endangered Afghans to Berlin – discussion sparked!

New flight brings endangered Afghans to Berlin – discussion sparked!

In recent weeks, Germany has again organized charter flights to bring Afghans at risk to Berlin. On March 5, 2025, a plane landed from Islamabad with 132 Afghans who had received acceptance from Germany. These people, including former local workers and their families, were persecuted by the Taliban, as a spokesman for the German Interior Ministry confirmed. A previous flight on February 25th brought 155 Afghans to the capital, with more than half also being part of the federal admission program for particularly vulnerable people, reports oe24.

The political reaction to the return of flights is divided. While the SPD defends Germany's responsibility for the evacuated local workers, pressure from the Union to end the flights is growing. Union parliamentary group leader Thorsten Frei demanded in an interview t online more deportations to Afghanistan. Critics within the CDU and CSU accuse the federal government of suspending the admission programs for election campaign purposes and then reviving them. Saxony's Interior Minister Armin Schuster speaks of the federal government's "remarkable audacity" and calls for the admission programs to be stopped immediately.

Meanwhile, other politicians also commented, such as former Green Party leader Omid Nouripour, who described criticism of the returns as “indecent” and questioned the deportation policy. While debates over the admission and deportation of Afghans continue, the situation remains tense for many vulnerable Afghans in Pakistan, where they have to wait for entry into Germany or other Western countries. The German government sees itself exposed to both domestic political pressure and humanitarian responsibility towards the people affected.