Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

The German government has resumed flights for Afghan refugees from Pakistan after a temporary suspension during the election campaign. On Tuesday, 155 Afghans arrived in Berlin, marking the first group to be transported since the election results secured power for the legacy parties CDU and SPD, who are expected to form a coalition government.

Flights for Afghan refugees were paused ahead of the election due to concerns over immigration and political optics. The decision followed a series of high-profile crimes committed by Afghan nationals, which fueled fears that further arrivals could strengthen the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) had officially cited logistical issues as the reason for canceling two charter flights in the weeks leading up to the election.

Now, with the election concluded, approximately 3,000 Afghans currently waiting at reception centers in Islamabad are expected to be transported to Germany in the coming weeks.

According to Die Welt, Germany has accepted more than 48,000 Afghans since August 2021, with almost 36,000 classified as “particularly endangered” by the federal government. Reports indicate that the cost of these relocations has amounted to several hundred million euros.

The decision to suspend flights during the campaign followed a string of violent crimes involving Afghan nationals across Germany. 

Two weeks before the election, an Afghan migrant drove a vehicle into a left-wing Ver.di demonstration in Munich, injuring at least 28 people, including a toddler. Police confirmed that the attacker, 24-year-old Farhad Noori, was a rejected asylum seeker with a history of theft and other offenses. His asylum claim had been denied in 2020 after authorities deemed his account of persecution in Afghanistan to be fabricated.

The January 2024 fatal stabbing of a toddler and a 41-year-old man in Schöntal Park, Aschaffenburg, by a 28-year-old Afghan national who targeted a group from daycare, sparked national outrage and reignited calls for a suspension of new arrivals and expedited deportations back to the country now governed by the Taliban.

Other recent attacks involving Afghan nationals include the trial of a 19-year-old Afghan asylum seeker in Frankfurt who attacked a Ukrainian woman with a box cutter in broad daylight. Due to mental health concerns, he is unlikely to face prison time.

In June last year, a terror attack in Mannheim saw an Afghan migrant stab multiple people, including a police officer who later died from his injuries. Just days later, another Afghan national attacked police officers with a kitchen knife on the island of Rügen.

Germany’s evacuation of Afghans has been subject to scrutiny, particularly regarding security risks. In 2021, then-Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer (CSU) revealed that at least 20 of the Afghans evacuated by the Bundeswehr had failed security screenings. Among them were convicted rapists and individuals previously deported from Germany due to security concerns. Reports also indicated that some evacuees had ties to counter-terrorism watchlists.

The resumption of flights signals Germany’s continued commitment to Afghan resettlement, despite ongoing concerns over security and public safety. However, political debates surrounding migration and integration are likely to persist, especially as the AfD and other conservative factions push for stricter immigration controls.

The CDU, however, which talked tough during the election to sway voters away from the AfD, appears to have U-turned on its proposed radical approach, with chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz telling press on Monday that “no one wants to close the borders.”

Read more here...