German Constitutional Court rules blanket suspension of Afghan admission programs unlawful

Published Jul 24, 08:01 AM UTC

Germany's Federal Constitutional Court ruled on July 24, 2026, that the federal government cannot universally revoke admission commitments for Afghans. The decision came after an Afghan mother and her two minor sons challenged the cancellation of their visas, which were based on a blanket withdrawal declaration by the Interior Ministry under Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU). The court found this violated the constitutional prohibition of arbitrariness, emphasizing that individual circumstances must be considered even within broad governmental discretion. The Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg must now re-examine the family's case. The plaintiff had received an admission commitment in 2021 via the human rights list after the Taliban takeover, but the new government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) sought to end voluntary admission programs. The ruling restricts the government's ability to suspend such programs across the board.

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