A German court ruled on Tuesday that the government must honour its promise to grant an Afghan national and her family visas to enter Germany, in a dispute over a scheme for Afghans who are at risk of persecution.
The government in Berlin had "legally bound itself to the admission through final, unrevoked admission decisions," the judges explained. "Germany cannot free itself from this commitment entered unto voluntarily."
The ruling followed an urgent appeal by the woman and her 13 family members who were waiting for visas for Germany in Pakistan.
After the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, various admission procedures for people from Afghanistan were established. The new conservative-led government stopped the programmes shortly after taking office at the beginning of May.
According to the Foreign Office, as of June 20 about 2,400 people are waiting in Pakistan to receive a visa for Germany.
Those affected include, for example, people who have advocated for equality and democracy in Afghanistan. Judges, female journalists or artists are also among those affected.
According to a court spokeswoman, the German Foreign Office is obliged to act immediately following the decision. However, an appeal against the decision can be lodged with a higher court.
Judges: Government can end programme
The judges stressed in their decision that the government is free to decide whether it wants to end the admission process for Afghan nationals or define under what conditions a continuation is conceivable.
They also noted that it could refrain from making new admission commitments.
In the case under consideration, however, those affected must be able to rely on the commitments made by Berlin, they said.
The commitments to the woman and her family have become final, the court ruled.
Furthermore, the individuals meet the requirements for a visa: there are no apparent security concerns, and their identities have been verified.
The family says they face deportation from Pakistan to Afghanistan, where their lives would be at risk under the rule of the radical Islamist Taliban, a claim that the judges found to be credible.
Future lawsuits
The organization Kabul Airbridge aims to use legal channels to force the continuation of the admission programme for particularly vulnerable Afghans.
The affected individuals left their homeland based on German promises, airbridge spokeswoman Eva Beyer explained in June when the first 26 cases were filed in Berlin.
The court said it had approximately 40 cases as urgent applications and lawsuits on the subject. These are, however, varied, the court spokeswoman explained.
Different chambers must decide on the cases individually, she said.