The German Foreign and Interior Ministries launched a new program to take in Afghan citizens who are most at risk of persecution under the Taliban.
Following Germany’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in August last year, tens of thousands of Afghans who worked with German forces during their two-decade presence in Afghanistan have been allowed to flee to Germany.
Berlin’s new program extends this option to people involved with women’s and human rights, politics, justice and other fields, as well as people who have been subjected to persecution because of their religion, gender or sexual orientation.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the program was directed particularly at the women and girls who, “since last summer, have seen their perspectives and hopes stolen, their rights restricted, and their attempts at self-defense violently repressed.”
Around 26,000 Afghans have already moved to Germany, out of the 38,000 who have been granted permission.
The new criteria will only include Afghan citizens residing in Afghanistan, but also aims at offering protection to large swathes of groups who make up civil society.