Key facts
- Germany's top court ruled that a blanket cancellation of promised places for Afghans in a special intake program was arbitrary.
- The court ordered that these cases must be reconsidered on an individual basis.
- The ruling supports an Afghan mother and her two minor sons who had been promised admission to Germany.
- The Interior Ministry's December 2025 order voided approximately 640 such promises without individual review.
- A separate Berlin court ruling stated Germany is obligated to resettle an Afghan family stranded in Pakistan.
- The government had suspended resettlement programs for Afghans deemed vulnerable after the Taliban's return to power in 2021.
Germany's top court has ruled that a blanket cancellation of promised places for Afghans under a special intake program was arbitrary and must be reconsidered on a case-by-case basis. The Federal Constitutional Court upheld a complaint from an Afghan mother and her two minor sons, who had been informed in 2022 that they would be admitted to Germany under the 'human rights list' scheme.
The judges stated that the Interior Ministry's December 2025 order to void approximately 640 such promises without individual assessment violated the constitutional prohibition of arbitrariness. This ruling poses a challenge to the current government's efforts to curtail asylum-seeker influxes.
In a related development, a Berlin court previously ruled that Germany is obligated to resettle an Afghan family stranded in Pakistan following the effective suspension of a program designed to offer refuge to endangered Afghans. The government had suspended resettlement programs for Afghans deemed particularly vulnerable after the Taliban's return to power in 2021, leaving around 2,400 individuals awaiting flights to Germany.
The courts have affirmed that the German government is legally bound by its admission commitments. While the government is reviewing the decisions, which are not yet legally binding on all parties, the court's stance indicates that Germany remains committed to its promises of admission. Further legal challenges from Afghans seeking resettlement are anticipated.