A German government-chartered plane departed from Islamabad, Pakistan, on Wednesday carrying Afghan nationals who have received legally binding admission to Germany, according to a spokesperson from the German Foreign Office.

The flight is expected to land in Leipzig later in the day. From there, the passengers will be temporarily housed in a camp in central Germany before being relocated to various federal states over the following two weeks.

According to German Foreign Office data, around 2,600 vulnerable Afghans remain in Pakistan awaiting resettlement.

They include former employees of German institutions in Afghanistan and their family members, as well as individuals at risk of persecution by the Taliban due to their prior work in areas such as human rights, journalism, or law.

However, the future of such evacuation and resettlement programmes appears uncertain. Germany’s incoming government has stated in its newly released coalition agreement that it plans to end voluntary federal admission programmes such as the one for Afghanistan and will not initiate any new ones.

Meanwhile, time may be running out for Afghans still waiting to leave. Pakistan has launched a renewed deportation campaign targeting Afghan refugees, aiming to expel as many as three million individuals.

From May, the crackdown is set to include even Afghans awaiting resettlement to Western countries.

Pakistan’s Minister of State for Interior Affairs, Talal Chaudry, confirmed that deportations will soon affect individuals in transit, increasing pressure on countries such as Germany to act quickly.

(dpa/NAN)