Germany’s Interior Ministry has confirmed that 141 Afghan refugees have been transferred to the country on a charter flight from Pakistan.
According to Deutsche Welle, the aircraft carrying the refugees departed from Islamabad on Monday (December 22) and landed in Hannover.
A spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of the Interior said that 123 of the passengers had previously received binding admission commitments under Germany’s Federal Admission Program, while the remaining 18 were former local employee of German institutions in Afghanistan.
German authorities said the transfer of Afghan refugees holding binding admission pledges from Pakistan will be completed by the end of the current calendar year.
At the same time, Germany has rejected the applications of 650 Afghan asylum seekers after four years of waiting, saying they had not received binding admission commitments.
Germany’s new federal government has suspended the broader admission program for Afghan refugees but has continued to relocate those who were already granted binding promises of admission.