The German Government has reportedly started to offer money to Afghan citizens in Pakistan slated for resettlement in Germany to get them to not come into the country.
As newspaper Welt reported yesterday, the German interior ministry has started sending letters to Afghans in Pakistan previously admitted to a resettlement programme. In one case, it offered recipients a €10,000 “starter bonus” for them to return to their home county instead of being flown to Germany.
In addition, they are offered a €2,500 one-off payment to facilitate their emigration from Pakistan.
In another example, a family of four was offered a €2,750 instant payment and €11,500 upon their arrival in Afghanistan.
According to State newscaster Tagesschau yesterday, there are currently 2,100 Afghans in Pakistan awaiting transport to Germany.
The interior ministry confirmed the situation, saying: “There are offers within the framework of a voluntary return programme to Afghanistan or departure to another third country.
“The aim is to give prospects to people who cannot expect to be accepted in Germany.”
The Afghans in question had previously been granted the right to move to Germany. Most of them are currently living in Pakistan, having fled their home country after the takeover by the radical Islamist Taliban in 2021.
Germany has tried to walk back on its promises, with new interior minister Alexander Dobrindt (Christian Social Union, CSU) announcing a temporary pause in May 2025.
The German embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, refrained from giving out visas to the Afghans in question or cancelled existing visas.
German courts, though, have repeatedly ruled in favour of the Afghans, ordering authorities to fly them out from Pakistan to Germany.
Since the new government of Friedrich Merz (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) took over in May there have been four flights in which 110 Afghans were transported to Germany.
In the latest case, a flight carrying 31 Afghan citizens from the programme landed in Hanover yesterday.
The interior ministry is now trying to pay its way out of the legal obligations created by the previous left-wing government.
According to Welt, the letters to Afghans were sent out in earlier this month, asking recipients to decide by the middle of the month whether they wanted to take the money.
If the Afghans accept the offer, they have to declare they are leaving the programme. A restart of procedures at a later stage has been ruled out.
