BERLIN: Germany’s constitutional court backed an Afghan woman’s appeal on Friday against an interior ministry decision to deny her a visa, ruling that the government cannot row back on resettlement pledges it had made to Afghans who fear persecution because they helped Western forces.

The woman had initially been accepted under a refugee scheme set up by the previous German government.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s administration has tried to row back on the scheme since taking office last year as part of its tougher stance on immigration.

The plaintiff was one of more than 600 Afghans whose previous approvals the interior ministry had reversed as “invalid” in December.

While thousands of people were admitted under the scheme, hundreds more found themselves stuck in limbo in Pakistan as they waited for entry visas for Germany.

The woman concerned in Friday’s case had been approved for entry, along with her two children, because of her human rights work, but had been stuck in Pakistan since late 2024 awaiting a German visa.

Friday’s constitutional court ruling said the ministry had acted in an “arbitrary” fashion by not reviewing the details of her case.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2026