BERLIN: The German government is reviewing whether Afghans stranded in Pakistan while awaiting resettlement in Germany will indeed be allowed to go there, its interior minister said on Thursday, as Islamabad intensifies deportations of Afghans.
Pakistan has begun to deport documented Afghan refugees ahead of its September 1 deadline for them to leave, according to the United Nations, a step that could see more than 1 million Afghans expelled from the country.
Among them are more than 2,000 Afghans awaiting visas to travel to Germany under an admission program designed to evacuate people considered to be at risk under Taliban rule in Pakistan’s neighbor Afghanistan.
A source familiar with the matter said detentions of Afghans for deportation over the border have continued, even during Pakistan’s Independence Day holiday on Thursday.
“People with German admission approval are being brought to the Torkham border (between Pakistan and Afghanistan) as we speak,” the source told Reuters."
