New German govt to make integration of Afghans easier

People who fled Afghanistan to Germany will have good chances of staying and being integrated into German society following a key policy change, dpa has learned.

Following an initial assessment, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser opted to designate Afghanistan as a "country of origin with good prospects for staying," meaning asylum seekers from there will have access to state-financed integration courses even before a decision on their status is made.

The move follows a promise of a "new start" for migration policy by Germany's new centre-left coalition government, led by Faeser's Social Democrats (SPD).

The decision comes in spite of rules dictating that countries of origin can only be considered to have "good prospects for staying" if more than 50 per cent of asylum applications from there are successful, dpa heard from government sources.

Afghanistan does not currently meet that prerequisite, but the government expects the success rate for Afghan asylum seekers to rise.

Faeser's decision puts Afghanistan on a par with Syria, Eritrea and Somalia.

"We have to integrate people who come to us at an early stage if they are likely to stay in Germany," Faeser said, noting that those who have fled Afghanistan since the August 2021 Taliban takeover will not be able to return there for the time being.

She also argued that action was needed as Germany continues to "evacuate people from Afghanistan week by week."

However, the move was met with scepticism within the migration department of Faeser's own ministry.

Sources have expressed concern that the criteria upon which the status change for Afghanistan was based are unclear, and that the decision could set a precedent for other troubled countries.