After the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, German authorities promised to resettle vulnerable Afghans, including former staff in the country, human rights defenders and other people eligible for protection, in Germany. Some of them have arrived in Germany — but approximately 2,000 are still stuck in Pakistan.

Many of these people had escaped the Taliban by fleeing to Pakistan, where they have been waiting for years for their German visas.

Now, a new offer from the German government has drawn criticism: abandon their claims to resettlement in exchange for cash.

The government, which took office in May, has determined that each individual application will be subject to a security check — even for Afghans whose permission to travel to Germany had already been guaranteed.