Overview
- Interior officials reported that 62 people, about 10% of roughly 650 contacted from the human-rights list and the bridging program, have indicated they will take the offer, with others still deciding.
- The proposal offers several thousand euros and short-term assistance for a return to Afghanistan or, in some cases, to a third country in exchange for permanently forfeiting admission.
- An estimated 1,900 to 2,100 people with prior assurances are still waiting in Pakistan, which has signaled deportations to Afghanistan could resume after the end of the year.
- German courts have repeatedly sided with applicants in urgent visa cases, including 49 of 67 decisions in Berlin, and a constitutional complaint is pending.
- NGOs and opposition politicians criticized the payout as ethically wrong and unsafe, while the government says it is meant to provide an option for those unlikely to be admitted and to ease backlogs.