Germany offers to pay Afghans to drop relocation plans

Germany has offered cash to Afghan nationals stranded in Pakistan if they give up efforts to enter Europe's biggest economy under a resettlement programme, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Wednesday.

The move is part of an effort by conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government to show it is tackling migration, a major concern for many German voters at a time when the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) tops several opinion polls.

Around 2,000 Afghans approved for relocation to Germany under a programme for people at risk under Taliban rule or who had worked with German forces have been stranded in Pakistan for months after Berlin froze the scheme, set up by the previous government, to curb migration.

Individuals with binding approval to enter Germany will be allowed in, subject to security checks, said Dobrindt, but others will not, he said, without providing any numbers.

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"It is logical that if we assume that people have no possibility of being admitted to Germany, we offer them some perspective and this is linked to making a financial offer for a voluntary return to Afghanistan or another third country," Dobrindt said.

"These offers have been made to these people in recent days," he said without saying what sum was available or how many people had been made an offer.

German media have reported the payments to amount to several thousand of euros, with a first instalment available in Pakistan and more on arrival in Afghanistan or a third country.