 "File Image")
Germany has offered financial incentives to Afghan nationals stranded in Pakistan to abandon their attempts to enter the country under a resettlement programme, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Wednesday.
The decision is part of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative government’s efforts to demonstrate a tougher stance on migration, a key issue for German voters as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) leads several opinion polls.
About 2,000 Afghans approved for relocation to Germany under a programme for individuals at risk under Taliban rule or those who worked with German forces have been stuck in Pakistan for months. Berlin froze the initiative launched by the previous government to limit migration.
Dobrindt said individuals with binding approval to enter Germany would still be permitted entry after security checks, while others would not be eligible, without specifying numbers.
”It is logical that if we assume that people have no possibility of being admitted to Germany, we offer them some perspective and this is linked to making a financial offer for a voluntary return to Afghanistan or another third country,” Dobrindt said.
”These offers have been made to these people in recent days,” he said without saying what sum was available or how many people had been made an offer.
German media have reported the payments to amount to several thousand of euros, with a first instalment available in Pakistan and more on arrival in Afghanistan or a third country.
Quick Reads
View AllWith inputs from agencies