German government coalition launches asylum program for Afghans, to import 1,000 Afghans a month

Germany’s centre-left “traffic light coalition,” a coalition of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP), and Alliance 90/The Greens, have launched an asylum program for refugees, with Afghans as the target demographic. Afghans have the poorest integration record of any migrant group in the country. 

The plans involve bringing in 1,000 Afghans per month, particularly those exposed and at risk because of service to their former government, which collapsed after U.S. President Joe Biden’s botched withdrawal from the country that fell under the control of the Taliban immediately afterward. 

Speaking of the program, Federal Minister of Interior, Nancy Faeser (SPD) said, “We are acting and fulfilling our humanitarian responsibility. On the basis of defined admission criteria, we can offer protection to particularly endangered and vulnerable persons from Afghanistan.”

Faeser said she was monitoring municipalities' capability of hosting and integrating refugees, as many are already burdened by the over one million refugees who arrived in 2022 alone, daily Junge Freiheit reports.

The vice president of the Bundestag, Katrin Göring-Eckardt, applauded the program on social media, saying that since many human rights defenders are still under threat from the Taliban, the program offers hope.

Remix News reports

According to the statement, the plans of the traffic light coalition include taking in about 1,000 “particularly endangered Afghans” and their family members every month. So far, some 38,100 people have been promised admission to Germany. Of these, around 26,000 Afghans are already in the Federal Republic.

According to a report by the German publication RND, only four states out of 16 are still accepting refugees, with Bavaria saying its housing capacity for refugees is at 102.8 percent.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior said to RND, “Against the background of the high access numbers, 12 states have currently activated a block in the initial distribution system.” 

“The burden on the federal states is resulting from the flight from Ukraine and general migration,” she added. “There is also currently an increase in the number of migrants on the Balkan route.”

In a report from RMX News, migrants already living in Germany are poorly integrated and commit a disproportionate amount of serious crimes. 

Ian Miles Cheong

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Ian Miles Cheong is a freelance writer, graphic designer, journalist and videographer. He’s kind of a big deal on Twitter.

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