BERLIN: Two flights meant to carry Afghans to Germany will not go ahead as planned this week, a government spokesman said on Wednesday amid a growing row over the initiative.

Berlin has been periodically flying in Afghans deemed at risk of persecution and those who worked for German institutions, since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

But calls have grown louder to halt the flights since the conservative CDU/CSU alliance won an election in February, promising a radical crackdown on irregular migration.

Four flights carrying Afghans have landed in Germany since the election, and the state of Saxony announced last week that two further flights were planned for April 23 and 29. However, German foreign ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer said, “As things stand at present, no further flights are planned in the next two weeks.

“Flight planning is always very complex and depends on a wide variety of factors, including whether enough people from the admission programmes have successfully completed the visa process,”

Germany’s incoming government, a coalition between the conservatives and the centre-left SPD due to take office on May 6, has pledged to end the flights from Afghanistan as part of plans to curb migration.

The CDU/CSU of future chancellor Friedrich Merz has heavily criticised the outgoing government for continuing to operate the flights since the election.

“We don’t want any more flights from Afghanistan to Germany. We want criminals and dangerous individuals flown back to Afghanistan,” said senior CDU lawmaker Jens Spahn.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2025