Germany permits entry of 2,000 'at risk' Afghan nationals, to run identity checks: Report

Amid the Afghanistan crisis, Germany has now allowed entry to around 2,000 rights activists, artists, scientists and journalists from the war-torn country who are at risk of retribution from the Taliban. According to the RND group of newspapers, Germany’s interior ministry said that the nation has begun issuing entry permits to people designated as vulnerable by the foreign office. A ministry spokesperson Steve Alter reportedly said that security forces would run identity checks after Interior Minister Horst Seehofer admitted that people with criminal records were airlifted to Germany from Kabul. 

Separately, the German DPA news agency said that there are around 2,600 at-risk people and their family members on the ministries’ list. It is to mention that Germany had ceased all evacuation flights from Afghanistan on 27 August. But it has established direct communication with German nationals who have been left behind in the war-torn country in order to facilitate an “organised exit” from the Central Asian nation. 

'Simply have to talk to Taliban'

While Germany has not recognised the newly formed interim Taliban government, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that the nation must engage with the insurgents in order to help evacuate Afghans who had worked for them. Merkel even said that it was also in the nation’s interest to support international aid organisations that are assisting to improve the humanitarian conditions in Afghanistan. She further said that the Kabul airport being used for flights once more is a good sign. 

Merkel said, “We simply have to talk to the Taliban about how we can get the people who used to work for Germany out of the country and to safety.” She added, “They (Taliban) are the ones one needs to talk to now.”

Merkel claimed that Germany does not have diplomatic connections with the militants, but a Taliban spokesperson has said that the German delegation promised to boost their humanitarian assistance in the war-ravaged country. Separately, while speaking to a German newspaper, the Taliban said that the group was ready for full diplomatic relations with the Germans. They also added that they had forgiven them for their past cooperation with the US in the war-torn country. 

(With inputs from ANI)