Germany starts new admission programme for Afghan refugees

BERLIN:

Germany has started a new programme to admit Afghans deemed most at risk following last year's Taliban takeover in Kabul, the interior and foreign ministries said on Monday.

Berlin has pledged to take in around 38,000 Afghans particularly at risk under the rule of the Taliban, and some 26,000 people have already arrived in Germany.

The new programme will admit 1,000 Afghans per month and their family members. It targets particularly exposed Afghans who are active in women's and human rights advocacy or those at risk for working in the fields of justice, politics, media, education, culture, sport or science.

Afghans who have experienced violence or persecution because of their gender, sexual orientation or religion can also benefit from the programme.

Read more: US announces $327m humanitarian aid package for Afghanistan

"Based on defined admission criteria, we can offer protection to particularly endangered and vulnerable people from Afghanistan," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement.

Germany will cooperate with civil society organisations to select and reach the targeted groups. The government plans to run the programme until the end of the legislative period in October 2025.

Berlin has not recognised the Taliban as a legitimate government since they took over Afghanistan in August 2021 as US-backed foreign forces withdrew after two decades of war.