BERLIN, Oct 17 —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 today.
Berlin has pledged to take in around 38,000 Afghans particularly at risk under the rule of the hardline Islamists and some 26,000 people had 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.
“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 organizations to select and reach the targeted groups. It was not immediately clear how long the programme will be in place.
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. — Reuters
