It is hard to know which promise from German politicians the “local staff” — Afghans who assisted German efforts in the country — relied on most. Perhaps that from then-Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who on August 26, 2021, 11 days after the Taliban took power, said: “Our work continues until all those for whom we carry responsibility in Afghanistan are safe.”
By June this year, more than 37,000 Afghan nationals had arrived in Germany since the Taliban retook power. These are people who worked alongside Germany’s Bundeswehr armed forces or German aid programs, plus their relatives. It also includes people who are especially at risk, such as activists and journalists who advocated for human rights and against the Taliban.
For Ahmad Samid, who worked for the Bundeswehr as an audio engineer, Germany kept its promise. For Javad Niazi, who worked for the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), it did not. He remains stuck in the city of Peshawar in Pakistan. Both are using false names because they still fear the Taliban and possible repercussions for themselves and their families.
Hundreds of Afghans still waiting
Samid works as a receptionist at a hotel in a large German city and told DW in very good German: “I am very grateful to Germany. But if someone says, ‘I will help you,’ then it must remain that way. One must keep a promise.”
In August 2026, 5 years after the Taliban quickly seized back power in Afghanistan, it seems that Germany no longer wants to know about the big promises it made.
In the case of Javad Niazi, Germany has, one must say, broken its promise. He is in the same position as 600 other Afghans who are desperately holding out in Peshawar and in Kabul, continuing to hope that they can leave for Germany. He and his family say they feel trapped in a small cage, he told DW. Their savings have been used up, he has no residence permit for Pakistan and he cannot leave his temporary accommodation for fear of Pakistani security forces, who arrest and deport Afghan nationals daily.
“My 14-year-old son goes shopping when it gets dark here. We cannot go to any bazaar, park, or hospital; my children cannot go to school. It is an enormous strain on us. We never would have thought that a country like Germany would take back its decision, it’s unbelievable.”
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New government does not want to take in any more local staff
Taking back its decision, as Javad Niazi put it, is what the new German government, comprising the conservative bloc of Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) under Chancellor Friedrich Merz did in May 2025 with its coalition agreement to scrap the resettlement programs.
Half a year later, those who had been left behind appealed to the chancellor directly for help in a two-page letter calling for help: “We wanted and needed to escape Taliban rule to survive. We cannot go back to Afghanistan. It would end brutally and violently for many of us,” they wrote.
But the German government remains firm and, in the meantime, is cooperating with the Taliban “on a technical level” via the Afghan diplomatic mission in Germany to send Afghan nationals who have committed crimes in Germany back to Afghanistan — and recently also the first person from Afghanistan with no criminal record.
German Foreign Minister Alexander Dobrindt offered the waiting Afghans money in exchange for forgoing their departure to Germany. A one-time payment of up to €2500 ($2887) before departure, up to €10,000 for a return to Afghanistan or a third country, plus medical care, board and lodging for several months. So far, 300 people have accepted this offer and in doing so given up on a future in Germany.
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Fate of local staff also depends on German courts
Since then, the issue of the future of the 600 waiting Afghans has been primarily dealt with via the court system. In July 2026, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Courtruled: The German government’s blanket decision revoking the admission programme for at-risk Afghan citizens is in breach of the constitutional prohibition of arbitrariness. Each person’s specific case and individual interests must be considered.
In response to questions from DW, the German Interior Ministry maintains it is in the right: “The Federal Constitutional Court largely aligns with the Federal Government’s argument that declarations around admissions can be revoked if political interests change. However, the Federal Constitutional Court also instructs the Interior Ministry to consider affected people’s individual circumstances when making such decisions.”
According to the Interior Ministry, the Federal Constitutional Court allows broad leeway for political decision-making when deciding on the admission of foreign nationals.
German aid organization continues support
For Javad Niazi, the trepidation about his and his family’s future continues. He would probably have given up long ago if not for the support of Kabul-Luftbrücke (Kabul Air Bridge). In response to the chaos at Kabul airport 5 years ago, the German non-governmental organization arranged a charter plane to fly 18 people out of Afghanistan. Since then, it has rescued 4,424 people from the Taliban, mostly overland to Pakistan.
Eva Beyer, who had worked as a filmmaker in Afghanistan, recalled the organization’s 2021 beginning to DW: “We chartered this plane, flew to Kabul and could haul out a few people. And then we realized, actually the work is just beginning. From early 2022 — I was then in Pakistan — there I organized the land transport on the Pakistani side, took in the people at the border and looked after them in Islamabad. What was originally planned to be 4 weeks has now become 5 years.”
Recently, Kabul-Luftbrücke has mainly focused on providing legal advice and support to Afghans. With success: They have won more than 200 lawsuits, and as a result, 1,018 people have been able to travel to Germany since September 1, 2025.
“About 75% of the people who are now still waiting are women and children. That means for all these women and children, who are not attending school, who can no longer build an independent life or pursue a career, the way to a secure future has been blocked,” Beyer said.
She advocates for people who have already passed all security checks to quickly receive a visa. “There are also people who already had a visa in their passport and those whose visa had already been issued, but at the last minute they could not take the flight because it was cancelled.”
This article was translated from German.
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