Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) has delivered a landmark judgment that could reopen the door for hundreds of Afghans promised protection by previous governments. In a decision published on 24 July 2026, the Court struck down Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt’s blanket “Abkehrerklärung”, which in December 2025 had cancelled all outstanding admissions under Germany’s special Afghanistan humanitarian programmes. The judges said the minister’s order violated the constitutional ban on arbitrariness because it ignored individual humanitarian commitments that had already been made. The ruling arose from a complaint lodged by an Afghan mother and her two minor children, whose admission had been approved in 2021 after she campaigned for women’s rights and assisted German forces. The Court emphasised that, even where the executive enjoys wide discretion over admission, it “is never completely free in a Rechtsstaat”. Authorities must weigh the concrete interests of each applicant before reversing prior decisions. Practically, the case now returns to the Higher Administrative Court, but the reasoning is expected to guide all 400-plus similar complaints backed by the civil-rights NGO GFF. Lawyers say the judgment re-establishes legal certainty for Afghan local staff still stranded in Pakistan and Iran and forces the Interior Ministry to reinstate individual visa processing rather than a political freeze. Corporate relocation managers should anticipate renewed visa appointments for Afghan dependants already holding written admission pledges. For HR teams, the decision highlights the importance of documenting any government assurances given to foreign talent, as such commitments may now enjoy constitutional protection. Employers with pending Skilled-Worker or Blue-Card applications for Afghan nationals can reference the judgement if processing stalls on political grounds. Immigration advisers expect a short-term surge in visa-section workloads and advise applicants to update contact details with German missions immediately. In the medium term, the ruling could curb the federal government’s appetite for sweeping border-control measures that bypass individual assessments—potentially influencing broader Schengen discussions on humanitarian corridors and resettlement quotas.
Source: ZDFheute
