Federal government must approve state plans
Ukraine war delays admission plans for Afghanistan
4/9/2022 12:59 p.m
In the coalition agreement, the traffic light parties promise to set up an admission program for Afghan refugees. However, the Ukraine war appears to be delaying development. The opposition accuses the government of “putting stones in the way with outlandish justifications”.
The admission of Ukrainian war refugees also affects the traffic light coalition’s plans for an admission program in Afghanistan. “The Federal Government has not yet made any final political decisions on the new admissions program and must also be considered in the light of current developments with a view to Ukraine,” said the Interior Ministry in response to a question from MP Clara Bünger. Nevertheless, taking in local Afghan workers and Afghans who are particularly at risk remains “an important concern” for the German government, even given the changed situation caused by Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.
In their coalition agreement, the SPD, Greens and FDP announced: “We will establish a federal humanitarian admissions program based on the programs previously implemented during the Syrian war and will now use them for Afghanistan.” Bünger had asked when this federal admission program could be expected and why Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had not yet approved the state admission programs for Afghans decided by Bremen, Berlin and Thuringia.
In its reply, the Ministry of the Interior explained that these requests for agreement would be shelved for the time being against the background of ongoing, intensive consultations on options for a new federal admission program for Afghanistan and the talks being held at European level. The conference of interior ministers also decided in December 2019 that “state admission programs should fit into the federal government’s migration policy and should produce a coherent overall picture”. Since May 2021, a total of around 19,000 people from Afghanistan have been able to enter Germany – local staff, particularly vulnerable Afghans and family members.
“The way the federal government is acting here is a sign of inadequacy: it doesn’t get anywhere itself, and the federal states that want to act and launched appropriate admission programs months ago are putting obstacles in their way with outlandish justifications,” criticized Bünger . “When the talk is that the federal admissions program for Afghanistan should be made dependent on current developments in Ukraine, it sounds as if the decision is being postponed to the foreseeable future.”