After Merz became chancellor, however, the German government effectively suspended the program and stopped the flights, a decision that stranded the Afghans — among them women’s rights activists and LGBTQ+ people — in Pakistan.
“These people are praying for the German government to not stop the program,” said Baresh from her new home in a western German town not far from the Rhine River. “There is no other option for them. They can’t go back.”
After the Taliban’s reconquest of Afghanistan, Western countries initially provided escape routes to vulnerable Afghans, particularly those who had assisted their militaries during the two-decade-long war that began after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. Germany was the third-largest destination for resettled Afghans after the U.S. and Canada. But anti-immigration sentiment across the West, including in America and Germany, has brought about what activists and experts say is a premature end to those resettlement programs.
“It’s a double hit, both to resettlement programs globally and to this specific population in Pakistan,” said Susan Fratzke, a senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute.
Under pressure from the far right
Germany is not the only country closing the door to Afghans seeking refuge. Earlier this year, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending refugee admissions to the U.S., leaving thousands of Afghan nationals awaiting resettlement in Pakistan. This month, Trump issued a proclamation blocking Afghan nationals from traveling to the U.S.; his administration also terminated temporary protected status for Afghans.
Germany is taking a somewhat similar course. Under increasing political pressure due to the rise of the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) — now the country’s largest opposition party — Merz has vowed to sharply cut the number of asylum-seekers allowed to enter the country. In the lead-up to Germany’s Feb. 23 snap election, a spate of knife attacks partly blamed on Afghan migrants also increased pressure on Merz to take a harder course on Afghan resettlement, particularly as AfD politicians called for the mass deportation of Afghans and other migrants.
