German minister defends strict policy on taking in Afghans

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt on Saturday rejected calls to expedite asylum applications from Afghans in the face of criticism from the government's commissioner for human rights.

"I'm not prepared to waive standard acceptance procedures or security checks," Dobrindt told a government open day event in Berlin.

The government, which took office in early May, could not be expected to resolve issues that had been building up for years, he said, accusing the previous government of leaving him with a problem.

Dobrindt pledged to work through the applications in a way that guaranteed maximum certainty on who was entering the country, from where, for what reason and on whether they had a right to asylum.

"And if acceptance is not justified, I will not support this acceptance," he said. "I'm doing it thoroughly, and so it will take time," he said, indicating that the process would take months.

German human rights commissioner Lars Castellucci earlier called on the Interior and Foreign Ministries to expedite applications from Afghans in Pakistan who are seen as being particularly at risk of persecution under the Taliban.

Castellucci noted that Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition had agreed to an orderly and humanitarian migration policy and said on X that the checks with regard to Afghanistan were meeting neither criterion.

The issue concerns around 2,000 Afghans and their families who are  seen as being at risk for supporting democratic rights in Afghanistan or for working for the German military or other German organizations, and who had been approved by the previous government.

Processing is taking place in Pakistan, as Germany closed its Kabul embassy following the Taliban takeover in 2021.

The German government said this week that 210 of around 2,000 applicants in Pakistan had been deported to Afghanistan.