Enlarge image
Armed Talib in Kabul in August 2020: The Islamists seized power in Afghanistan just over a year ago
Photo:
STRINGER / EPO
Around a year after the fall of Kabul, several hundred former Afghan local workers and their families are still hoping to be accepted into Germany.
Most of them once worked for the Bundeswehr, as shown by inquiries from the Foreign Office, Ministry of Development Aid, Ministry of the Interior and the Bundeswehr.
The Bundeswehr Operations Command assumes that around 350 former local Bundeswehr personnel who are entitled to enter Germany are still in Afghanistan or neighboring countries.
A spokesman said there was no connection to 180 of them.
120 former employees and 580 relatives are still in Afghanistan, plus almost 30 former local staff with around 140 relatives who are on their way to Germany.
20 local staff were known to be in safe third countries.
More than 700 former employees of the Bundeswehr, including their relatives, are probably still in Afghanistan.
Before the militant Islamist Taliban took power again last summer, several German ministries had local employees in the country who, like their families, now fear for their safety.
A particularly large number of them worked for the Bundeswehr or in the development sector, but the Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry of the Interior also employed so-called local staff.
According to a spokesman, there are still about 400 open procedures in the Federal Development Ministry - although this number could also include applications that are ultimately rejected as not eligible.
In addition, the number fluctuates because new applications are still possible.
More than 32,000 people in need of protection have been accepted
According to information from the Federal Foreign Office, since mid-May more than 32,000 former local staff or people from Afghanistan who are otherwise classified as particularly in need of protection – including close relatives – have received an acceptance letter for Germany.
About 72 percent, more than 23,000 of them, have entered the country so far.
According to the information, the cases of former local staff of the Federal Foreign Office have all been processed.
"All former local employees who wanted to leave the country have received confirmation of admission," it said.
The foreign office has therefore also taken on responsibility for accepting local staff from the Goethe Institute, Deutsche Welle, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and from NATO and the EU.
More than 3,600 acceptances for Germany were given here, of which more than 2,600 people entered the country.
In a few cases there are still open threat reports, i.e. indications from people who feel threatened.
In the Federal Ministry of the Interior, there are no longer any unprocessed requests for admission from local staff or their relatives, a spokesman said.
asc/dpa
