German’s Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, has announced a temporary halt to the admissions procedures for Afghanistan nationals due to alleged “attempts to abuse the system”.
The decision, according to Info Migrants reports, was announced on Wednesday and procedures were to be suspended at German embassies in Pakistan and Iran with immediate effect.
“isolated indications of possible attempts at abuse” in recent weeks, the German Foreign Office and the Interior Ministry investigated the procedures at the Islamabad Embassy. They agreed to introduce an additional security questionnaire within a few days, at which time visa procedures for Afghans would resume.” Info Migrants News Agency cited diplomatic sources in Berlin.
According to German government, the country’s missions abroad have issued more than 28,600 visas to Afghanistan applicants since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Among them are around 4,100 former local-employed staffs and people deemed to be at particular high risk, and their immediate families. The German government has promised more than 44,000 visas for Afghanistan people.
Info Migrants News Agency stated that the German office of national statistics has announced on Thursday that 286,000 Afghan nationals arrived and were registered in the county last year. The largest number to be registered in Germany in 2022 were Ukrainians (1.01 million), followed by Syrians (674,000).
