Germany must honour visa obligations to Afghan refugees, rules court

FILE PHOTO: An activist depicting Chancellor Friedrich Merz shows a broken "promise" lettering in a symbolic protest action for the continuation of visa issuance under the admission programs for vulnerable Afghans, in connection with the first wave of lawsuits against the Federal Foreign Office and the suspending and reassess all refugee programs of the German government, in Berlin, Germany June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo

BERLIN (Reuters) -A German court ruled on Tuesday that the government is obliged to issue visas to Afghan nationals and their family members who were accepted into a humanitarian admissions programme that the new centre-right coalition intends to shut down.

A foreign ministry official said the government was reviewing the decision, which is not yet legally binding.