Most recently, in an interim order dated 4 December 2025, the Federal Constitutional Court instructed the Federal Government to decide promptly on the visa applications of one of the affected families. The Federal Government complied with this instruction. However, it revoked the admission declaration and rejected the applications — without conducting any fundamental rights assessment regarding the life-threatening danger faced by the individuals concerned. In response, we filed an application for interim relief with the Berlin Administrative Court on 11 December 2025. In order to prevent deportation into life-threatening danger, we are seeking interim measures before the European Court of Human Rights together with the family.

Protection Obligation Arising from Admission Declaration

The Federal Government promised admission to Afghans at risk and accommodated them in Pakistan for the purpose of carrying out the visa process. This gives rise to a constitutional obligation to protect these individuals. The Government cannot withdraw from this obligation without substantive justification after two and a half years and knowingly expose these people to the Taliban, where they face the risk of torture and death.

The complainant in the constitutional complaint that has already been decided served as a high-ranking judge in Afghanistan until the Taliban seized power. In this capacity, he convicted numerous members of the Taliban, including individuals who now hold senior positions within the Taliban’s political and military structures. Following their takeover, he received death threats and was forced into hiding. One of the individuals he had previously convicted abducted and killed the complainant’s father. Since then, the family has lived in constant fear and threat. At the end of 2022, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) informed the complainant that the Federal Ministry of the Interior had issued an admission declaration for him and his family pursuant to section 22, sentence 2, of the Residence Act.

The family subsequently structured their entire lives — including their future prospects for their children — around the expectation of entry to Germany and the completion of the visa procedure. In accordance with the instructions contained in the admission declaration, they applied for Pakistani visas. In order to fund their departure to Pakistan, they sold their house and all remaining assets in Afghanistan. In Islamabad, the family placed themselves under the care of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) in a guesthouse and have since been living there under adverse conditions. Since the expiry of their visas in April 2023 and the resulting risk of deportation — that is, for more than two and a half years — they did not leave the accommodation at all, out of fear of deportation and at the instruction of GIZ. Despite a positive security screening and the submission of all required documents, their visas were not issued. In May 2025, the Federal Government announced a halt to all admission programmes and suspended the admission declaration. On 8 December, the Federal Government revoked all admission declarations issued pursuant to section 22, sentence 2, of the Residence Act. This affects approximately 640 Afghans accommodated in GIZ facilities in Pakistan, the majority of whom are women and children.

The family and the other affected individuals now face an imminent risk of deportation to Afghanistan and of falling into the hands of the Taliban. The Pakistani government has already announced that in early January, it will begin deporting all persons seeking protection under the German admission programmes.

Application for Interim Relief and Constitutional Complaint: Karlsruhe Urges Federal Government to Decide

In June 2025, the family filed an action and an application for interim relief in Germany seeking the issuance of visas and prevailed before the Berlin Administrative Court. The court held that the admission declaration gave rise to an entitlement to the issuance of visas. In August, however, the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court set aside that decision, holding that the admission declaration constituted a non-binding political decision from which the Federal Government could withdraw at any time and without giving reasons. We subsequently filed an application for interim relief and a constitutional complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court against that decision.

We argued that the admission declaration is binding on the Federal Government, relying on the constitutionally enshrined principles of the protection of legitimate expectations and the State’s duty to protect life and physical integrity.

The Federal Republic of Germany formally declared the complainants’ admission in writing, instructed them to leave for Pakistan and to pursue the visa procedure there, and has accommodated them in a GIZ facility for almost three years. In reliance on this commitment, the family sold their house and all of their assets in order to fund their departure and the visa procedure and emerged from hiding in Afghanistan. There were no indications whatsoever for the family that entry to Germany would not be possible despite the admission commitment — subject to a successful security screening.

The Federal Constitutional Court partially upheld the constitutional complaint, finding that the failure to decide on the visa applications violated the right to effective legal protection. The judges urged the Federal Government to decide on the visa applications without delay.

On 10 December 2025, Human Rights Day, the family received a rejection notice for their visa. With the support of GFF, the family has once again filed a lawsuit and an application for interim relief with the Berlin Administrative Court.

At the same time, GFF, together with the family, has applied for an interim measure before the European Court of Human Rights. Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights protect against deportation to a country where there is a risk of torture or life-threatening danger. Although the deportation would be carried out by Pakistan, Germany is knowingly facilitating it by revoking its admission commitment and withdrawing the protection that had been maintained for the family for over three years.

Second Constitutional Complaint Rejected

On 16 December, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected the constitutional complaint of another former Afghan judge and his family. The Court noted that the family could seek legal protection before the administrative courts following the now-issued rejection of their visa applications. On the same day, we filed an application for interim relief with the Berlin Administrative Court. At the same time, the family considers recourse through the administrative courts to be futile and views the referral to this legal remedy as cynical: the clear case law of the Berlin Higher Administrative Court stands in the way of a successful interim application, and any legal protection would come too late given the imminent threat to life. Accordingly, we plan to file a complaint with the United Nations Human Rights Committee later this week. We call on the Committee, which monitors compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to instruct Germany to uphold its admission commitment and protect the family from deportation to Afghanistan.

The complainants are also a former Afghan judge, his wife, and their children. The judge served as the chair of a chamber for security offenses and, in that capacity, convicted numerous members of the Taliban, many of whom now hold senior and influential positions within the Taliban’s political and military structures following the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Even at the time of their convictions, many of these individuals threatened violence against the judge and his family in the event of their release. After the Taliban seized power, the judge went into hiding. When his house was searched, he and his family initially fled to Iran and, after receiving Germany’s admission commitment, relocated to Pakistan.

Constitutional Duty of Protection of the Federal Government

Through the admission declaration and by taking the families into protective custody in Pakistan, the Federal Republic of Germany has assumed responsibility for the protection and well-being of both affected families to such an extent that, in this specific case, a constitutional duty of protection arises under Article 2(2), sentence 1 of the German Basic Law. This applies all the more because the families now face an even more severe threat if they are handed over from Pakistan to the Taliban than they did prior to their departure.

The suspension of the admission programmes affects not only these families: approximately 1,900 Afghans with admission commitments are currently waiting in Pakistan under precarious conditions.

The families are represented in court by attorneys Julius Becker and Farhad Bahlol, respectively.

This project is funded by the Mercator Foundation.