And the waiting goes on

“During my time in Pakistan, I had only fears and worries. I didn’t know how things would go on, what the future would bring. Would I ever arrive in Germany? How long will I have to wait here?”

After the Western military withdrew troops from Afghanistan, the radical Islamist Taliban took complete power on Aug. 15, 2021. In the chaos of the initial evacuation missions, the allocation of German admission permits to acutely endangered Afghan*s was equally chaotic and arbitrary. Family members were often left out or forgotten in the listing process. In laborious and lengthy “hardship” procedures, missing entry permits can be applied for. But for that long, families are stuck in neighboring countries at their own expense. There they can do nothing but wait, often for months.

Since the beginning of last year, a Kabul Luftbruecke shelter in Islamabad has been accommodating people who have an entry permit for Germany but whose onward journey has been delayed due to bureaucratic hurdles. Affected are, for example, people whose family members are still waiting for their approval or visas and without whom they cannot continue their journey. In such cases, the German government does not provide care during stopovers.

One of them is 22-year-old Ali, who came to Islamabad more than a year ago. 

“I was the only one in my family who received an acceptance letter to Germany. But I knew they would be in danger if they stayed,” Ali says. 

“So I stayed in Islamabad and the KLB team helped me apply for an admission permit for my family members. It took over a year for everyone to be approved.”

For about two and a half months, Ali’s parents and brothers have been with him in Islamabad. Finally, everyone was ready to move on, the appointment at the German embassy was set, and the family was put on the next flight list. On April 5, the flight was supposed to leave for Germany.

“Then, at the end of March, I heard rumors that there was to be an entry ban on people from Afghanistan. I hoped it wasn’t true, but it really happened,” Ali says. 

“I was so hoping this situation would finally be over. The fear, the disappointment, the waiting and the tension. Now we’re stuck again.” 

Pakistan rarely offers a safe place and a future for refugees from Afghanistan. 

“I couldn’t do anything in Pakistan, I had no job, no school. When my visa expired, I got really scared. I couldn’t really go out anymore. The police recognize Afghans and they could ask me for my passport and visa at any time and then lock me up and deport me.”

Ali says he already has a few friends and colleagues in Munich. 

“I hope to have a better future in Germany. I want to achieve my goals and I want to support the girls and boys from my projects who are still in Afghanistan.”

Together with his older brothers, Ali founded a BMX club in Kabul in 2016. The club was called “Drop and Ride,” short for “Drop Your Gun and Ride a Bike.” Ali was a coach in the club and a project manager. 

“The club had several goals,” he says. “We wanted to encourage people to ride bikes to reduce air pollution in the city. And we wanted to give girls and women access to sports and workouts. That worked; a few years later, I sometimes saw girls still riding their bikes alone around the city. I was very happy about that, because that was exactly our goal: more equality and self-determination for Afghan girls and women.”

Building an inclusive sports club in a traditional society was not easy, Ali recounts.

“We were often stopped in the street by very restrictive men, sometimes even beaten up.”

Projects like Ali’s are directed against the Taliban’s fundamentalist beliefs. When the new rulers took Kabul in August 2021, Ali and his colleagues were forced to close the association. 

“We were known everywhere, in the neighborhood, on social media. It was only a matter of time before the Taliban found us. We tried to escape, with the military evacuations in the first days after the takeover. But unfortunately, we were not able to get into the airport. Only one of my brothers, who founded the BMX club with me, made it to Canada.”

Within the first few months of the Taliban forming as the de facto government in Afghanistan, what everyone feared became a reality: Arbitrary violence against people who had worked in “Western” institutions, organizations and projects. Arrests, interrogations, torture and intimidation. The exclusion of girls and women from almost all professions and public activities. 

Ali recounts his recent experience in Afghanistan.

“One day Taliban came through our gate. They arrested my brother and questioned him. They wanted to know everything about our family. How many we are, what we work. And then they said they had received information from our neighbors. They asked if it was true that we would invite girls and boys to our house and mix them. My brother objected, he said he was just a simple mechanic, nothing else. They took him back to jail for several hours until my father came and got him out.”

After this incident, Ali traveled to Islamabad. He already had an approval of admission to Germany at that point. But even after he and his brother, the two founders of the BMX club, left the country, the rest of his family was not safe in Kabul.

“Once armed Taliban came to our house at night, there were twelve of them. They beat my father, put a knife to his neck and asked him where he had his weapons. He said he didn’t have any weapons. They kicked him and tied him up. Then they went to my brother and did the same to him. They threatened to kill him.” 

Once he makes it to Germany, Ali wants to support his friends and colleagues in Afghanistan.

“Especially the girls from my club ask me so often if I can help them. They can’t do anything in Afghanistan anymore, not even go out properly. And the only thing I can say to them is, I wish I could do something for you. When I’m in Germany, I want to try to organize a secret place in Kabul where at least the boys can train again. Maybe I can find German organizations that can support us.”

On March 29, 2023, the German government abruptly stopped all visa procedures for Afghan*s. New security interviews are to be introduced to avoid abuse of the entry procedures by potential “endangerers”. Once again, those most at risk and in urgent need of admission are affected. 

The German government needs a #RealityCheck!