Germany offers cash to Afghans to halt immigration efforts

The German government is offering cash payments to Afghan nationals stranded in Pakistan if they give up attempts to immigrate under a resettlement programme.

About 2,000 Afghans have been approved for relocation but remain stuck in Pakistan, some for years. The programme was suspended in May by Chancellor Friedrich Merz to address voter concerns over migration amid rising support for the far-right AfD.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the payments are intended as an incentive for voluntary return to Afghanistan or a third country. While Afghans with binding approval to enter Germany will still be admitted after security checks, others will be excluded. Reports suggest the cash amounts to several thousand euros, paid in installments.

“It is logical that if we assume that people have no possibility of being admitted to Germany, we offer them some perspective, and this is linked to making a financial offer for a voluntary return to Afghanistan or another third country,” German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Wednesday.

“These offers have been made to these people in recent days,” Dobrindt said, without revealing how much money was involved or the number of people being excluded from entry.