Berlin: "Our work continues until all those for whom we carry responsibility in Afghanistan are safe." By June 2026, 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.

According to Deutsche Welle, 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.

Samid works as a receptionist at a hotel in a large German city. In August 2026, five 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. 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," he said.

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 and the center-left Social Democrats 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.

But the German government has remained 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 Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt offered the waiting Afghans money in exchange for forgoing their departure to Germany.

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 Court ruled: The German government's blanket decision revoking the admission program 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.

Javad Niazi and his family continue to worry for their future. He would probably have given up long ago if not for the support of Kabul-Luftbr¼cke (Kabul Air Bridge). In response to the chaos at Kabul airport in August 2021, the German nongovernmental 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.

Recently, Kabul-Luftbr¼cke has mainly focused on providing legal advice and support to Afghans - with success. They've 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," said Eva Beyer from Kabul-Luftbr¼cke. She advocates for people who have already passed all security checks to quickly receive a visa.