Afghanistan Peace Campaign
Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court has ruled that the government cannot collectively cancel previously issued resettlement commitments to Afghan nationals and must assess each affected case individually.
The ruling followed a complaint by an Afghan woman and her two sons, who had been selected for relocation to Germany under the country’s humanitarian admission program after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
The court ruled that the Interior Ministry’s decision in December 2025 to end the program and cancel about 640 remaining commitments without examining the individual circumstances of those affected violated the constitutional prohibition against arbitrary state action.
The judges said the government has broad powers to determine immigration policy but must exercise those powers within the limits of Germany’s Basic Law.
Once German authorities formally inform a person that they have been accepted for admission to Germany, any decision to withdraw that commitment must be based on an assessment of the individual’s circumstances, the court said. A blanket decision affecting a group of applicants is not sufficient.
The court also ordered the competent administrative court to reconsider the Afghan family’s case.
Until the family receives visas or a new decision is issued that complies with constitutional requirements, the German government must continue providing financial support, according to the ruling. The family is currently in Pakistan, where Germany is covering the costs of accommodation and support.
The decision comes as the German government seeks to reduce migration and restrict humanitarian admission programs. The ruling does not prevent Berlin from changing its immigration policies or ending programs for future applicants. It does, however, limit the government’s ability to cancel commitments already made to individuals through a single collective decision.
The judgment could have implications for other Afghan nationals selected under Germany’s humanitarian admission program whose cases remained unresolved after the government moved to end the scheme.
The court did not order Germany to admit every person affected by the cancelled commitments automatically. Instead, it required authorities to examine individual cases and ensure that any decision to withdraw a previous admission commitment complies with constitutional requirements.
The ruling therefore establishes an important legal distinction between changing future migration policy and withdrawing commitments already made to individuals. While the government retains broad authority over immigration policy, that authority cannot be exercised in a manner that ignores the individual circumstances of people who have already received formal assurances of admission.
