BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany is set to end its months-long halt on the entry of vulnerable Afghan nationals it had pledged to admit, following mounting legal pressure at home and a deportation push by Pakistani authorities, Welt newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Around 2,000 Afghans approved for relocation to Germany under a program for those deemed at risk under Taliban rule have been stranded in neighbouring Pakistan for months, after Berlin froze the scheme amid a pledge to curb migration.
Rights groups and dozens of affected Afghans challenged the freeze in courts, with some winning rulings that increased pressure on Berlin to act.
The urgency has grown further as Pakistan moves to expel documented Afghan refugees ahead of a September 1 deadline, including those in Germany’s relocation program.
According to the newspaper, citing government sources, affected families have already been informed about the program resumption, with the first Afghan families expected to arrive in the coming days.
The government plans to relocate the Afghans discreetly on regular commercial flights with stopovers in Dubai or Istanbul before reaching Germany, and the exact number of people currently cleared for departure remains unclear, Welt added.
It said the foreign ministry confirmed only that verification procedures were resuming and that staff have been deployed to Pakistan to continue processing cases.
The foreign and interior ministries were not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa, Editing by Miranda Murray)
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