GERMANY’S announcement that it is considering the cases of Afghans deported from Pakistan is a welcome gesture at a time when many nations have chosen to turn their backs on those they once pledged to protect. Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said that commitments made by previous German governments will be honoured — a stance that deserves recognition, even if it has come late. After the Afghan Taliban retook Kabul in August 2021, several Western countries — including the US, UK, Canada, Germany and Australia — launched programmes to resettle Afghans who had assisted their missions or who faced grave risks, such as journalists, lawyers, judges and human rights defenders. Tens of thousands left their homes in desperation, some arriving in Pakistan, trusting they would soon be relocated. Many have, instead, found themselves in limbo for years, stranded by slow bureaucracies, shifting immigration policies and waning political will in host countries. Pakistan, which has hosted Afghans for decades despite its own economic and security strains, recently began deporting thousands of undocumented Afghans, including those who had been waiting for visas to Western countries. This has placed people directly back in harm’s way. The Taliban view them as traitors. Reprisals can mean arbitrary detention, abduction, torture or death. For women professionals and rights activists, the danger is even greater, as their very visibility makes them targets.

Germany at least appears willing to honour its word. But others have faltered: Britain’s resettlement schemes remain paralysed by delays and legal wrangling; Canada has struggled to meet its intake pledges, citing logistical hurdles; and the US still faces a vast backlog of unprocessed special visas. There is no question of the moral responsibility these countries have. To abandon them now is to condemn them to persecution and rob Afghanistan of a better future. These people cannot afford more inaction. Their very survival is at stake.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2025