KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled on Friday that the government cannot revoke hundreds of promised resettlement places for Afghan nationals via a blanket decision, saying that each case must be considered individually.
According to Deutsche Welle, the ruling followed a complaint filed by an Afghan mother and her two sons, who were approved for admission to Germany in 2021 under a “Human Rights List” program established after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan.
The woman and her children are currently living in Pakistan and have been receiving support funded by the German government while waiting for their relocation process to be completed.
In December 2025, the Federal Interior Ministry announced the end of the program and cancelled around 640 remaining commitments without reviewing the individual circumstances of those affected. The Constitutional Court ruled this approach violated the constitutional prohibition against arbitrary state action.
The judges acknowledged the executive branch’s broad discretion over immigration policy but emphasized that it cannot disregard constitutional principles. They ordered the government to continue providing assistance to the affected individuals until visas are issued or the Interior Ministry issues a new decision that complies with constitutional requirements.
The court also said the German government must take measures to prevent the family from being detained by Pakistani authorities or deported to Afghanistan while the legal process continues.
The case is among dozens of legal challenges filed by Afghan nationals whose admission commitments were cancelled after Germany suspended its Afghan admission programs.
Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, Germany introduced several programs to relocate former Afghan local employees who had worked with German institutions, as well as Afghans considered to be at particular risk because of their work, activism, or personal circumstances.
Through various admission channels, Germany has admitted around 36,500 vulnerable Afghans since the Taliban seized power, including former Afghan local staff and other at-risk individuals.
The current German government suspended the admission programs in May 2025. In December, the Federal Interior Ministry withdrew all admission commitments issued under the “Human Rights List” and a temporary admission program, saying that there was no longer a political interest in admitting those individuals.
The decision affected hundreds of Afghans who had already received approval to travel to Germany but were still waiting for visas and transportation arrangements.
Around 2,400 Afghans with approved admission cases remain in Pakistan awaiting relocation to Germany, according to figures cited by German media. They are facing increasing uncertainty as Pakistani authorities have intensified their crackdown on undocumented Afghan nationals, including house raids, detentions, and deportations of hundreds of families each day.
