Rights groups sue German ministers over deportation of Afghans from Pakistan
Pakistan has begun deporting documented Afghan refugees ahead of a September 1 deadline, a move the United Nations warns could force more than one million to leave.
Among those at risk are more than 2,000 Afghans approved for relocation to Germany under programmes for people deemed vulnerable under Taliban rule in Afghanistan.
The relocations have been put on hold, pending a review by Germany's new conservative-led government as it tries to deliver on its election promise to curb migration.
Refugee group PRO ASYL and the Patenschaftsnetzwerk Ortskraefte, a non-profit supporting former local staff who worked for Germany, filed a criminal complaint with Berlin prosecutors against Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt.
By allowing Pakistan to deport Afghans already accepted into German resettlement programmes, they said, the ministers had committed "abandonment" and "failure to render assistance" to people at risk under Section 221 of the Criminal Code.
They said more than 400 people approved for relocation to Germany had been arrested in Pakistan in recent weeks and 34 people had already been deported. Deportees face grave risks under Taliban rule, including imprisonment, mistreatment or execution, the groups said.
Victoria Lies, a lawyer who represents several of those affected, said some of her clients had been separated from their families, and in one case, a girl had been sent back to Afghanistan alone.
The foreign and interior ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
However, Wadephul said on Friday his ministry was in "high-level contact with the Pakistani government to ensure the protection of these people and to provide rapid assistance to those who have been deported or arrested in recent days".
The interior ministry has said it cannot provide a timeline to determine the future of the admission programme but expects decisions soon.
The two NGOs' complaint builds on a July 8 legal opinion commissioned by them, which said German officials could be criminally liable if they fail to prevent the deportations.
It adds to more than 80 lawsuits by affected Afghans seeking German government approval for their visas, with courts siding with them in some cases, though the interior ministry has appealed those rulings.
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The Guardian
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They are keen to avoid the chaotic scenes played out in front of the world's press in the White House in February, when Donald Trump got into a shouting match with the Ukrainian leader, telling him to make a deal with Russia 'or we're out' and warning that Zelenskyy was 'gambling with world war three'. Zelenskyy left the White House early after Trump gave him a dressing-down that followed an ambush led by vice-president JD Vance, a skeptic of US support for Ukraine. Politico is reporting that, in order to prevent another potential flare up and to try to ensure greater European involvement in negotiations, Finnish President Alexander Stubb – and possibly Nato secretary general Mark Rutte – may accompany Zelenskyy for his Washington trip tomorrow. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen may also join, according to Bloomberg, but these plans are not finalised. All three senior European figures have a seemingly good relationship with the US president. Updated at 11.59am CEST 11.16am CEST 11:16 Russia's defence ministry said this morning that Russian forces had destroyed and intercepted 300 Ukrainian drones and struck storage sites for Sapsan operational-tactical missiles, Interfax news agency reported. Russia's defence ministry said Russian forces had gained better positions near the settlement of Zolotyi Kolodiaz in the Donetsk region, though pro-Ukrainian maps showed that Ukrainian forces had contained the Russian advance, Reuters reports. The defence ministry said war planes, drones and missiles had been used to strike Ukrainian storage sites for Sapsan missiles across the country. 'Four guided aerial bombs and 300 aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down by air defense systems,' the ministry was quoted as having said. Updated at 12.00pm CEST 10.53am CEST 10:53 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Russia is complicating efforts to end the war. In a post on X, he wrote: We see that Russia rebuffs numerous calls for a ceasefire and has not yet determined when it will stop the killing. This complicates the situation. If they lack the will to carry out a simple order to stop the strikes, it may take a lot of effort to get Russia to have the will to implement far greater – peaceful coexistence with its neighbors for decades. But together we are working for peace and security. Stopping the killing is a key element of stopping the war. Today, coordination with partners has been ongoing throughout the day … We are preparing for Monday's meeting with President Trump, and I am grateful for the invitation. It is important that everyone agrees there needs to be a conversation at the level of leaders to clarify all the details and determine which steps are necessary and will work. 10.42am CEST 10:42 The Ukrainian military said on Saturday it had pushed Russian forces back by about 2km (1.2 miles) on part of the Sumy front in northern Ukraine. There was no immediate comment from Russia, which controls a little over 200 sq km in the region, according to Ukraine's battlefield mapping project DeepState. Updated at 11.35am CEST 10.18am CEST 10:18 US President Donald Trump said after Friday's meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, that he wants to bypass a ceasefire and move straight to a permanent peace deal. This is a major shift in policy. Before the summit, Trump demanded Putin agree to an immediate ceasefire or face heavy US sanctions on oil exports. Ukrainian and European leaders fear that a straight-to-peace deal, skipping over a preliminary ceasefire, gives Moscow an upper hand in talks. After calls with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, Trump wrote on social media on Saturday that 'it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.' With Russia and Ukraine far apart in their demands, it is not clear how easily that could be achieved. We are likely to be issued with a joint statement from the leaders of the 'coalition of the willing' on the call later – it is not clear if they will use the word ceasefire or adopt more vague language to align themselves more with the new American position. Updated at 11.38am CEST 10.06am CEST 10:06 Here is some more detail from the report from my colleagues Edward Helmore and Pjotr Sauer about Trump backing a plan to cede unoccupied Ukrainian territory to Russia to secure an end to the war, with Putin demanding Ukraine withdraw from Donetsk and Luhansk as a condition for peace: Although Luhansk is almost entirely under Russian control, Ukraine still holds key parts of Donetsk, including the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk and heavily fortified positions whose defence has cost tens of thousands of lives. Putin told Trump that in exchange for Donetsk and Luhansk, he would halt further advances and freeze the frontline in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, where Russian forces occupy significant areas. Trump's support for ceding Ukraine's Donbas region (composed of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions), which is rich in mineral resources, including coal and iron ore, to Russia comes as he voiced support for moving straight to a peace deal and not via a ceasefire, which, Trump said in a social media post on Saturday, 'often times do not hold up.' US support for ceding the Donbas to Russia represents a breach with Ukraine and European allies that oppose such a deal. As part of a deal, the US is ready to be part of security guarantees for Ukraine, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said on Saturday. Trump has threatened economic penalties on countries that buy Russian oil if Moscow refuses a deal and flew US bombers over the Russian leader as he arrived in Alaska. But Ukrainian and European leaders fear that a straight-to-peace deal, skipping over a preliminary ceasefire, gives Moscow an upper hand in talks. 9.44am CEST 09:44 Welcome back to our live coverage of Russia's war on Ukraine. While Washington prepares to welcome Volodymyr Zelenskyy for crunch talks with Donald Trump on Monday, European leaders who make up the so-called 'coalition of the willing', a loose partnership of western countries pledging support for Ukraine, are set to hold a conference call on Sunday to try to protect a peace deal that does not reward Russia for its aggression. The virtual call is being co-chaired by the UK's prime minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz. At the Alaska summit on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded Ukraine withdraw from Donetsk and Luhansk as a condition for ending the war, but offered Trump a freeze along the remaining frontline, two sources with direct knowledge of the talks told the Guardian. Trump reportedly backed the plan to cede unoccupied Ukrainian territory to Russia to secure an end to the war, telling European leaders that he believed a peace deal could be negotiated if Zelenskyy agreed to give up the Donbas region (which is composed of Donetsk and Luhansk). European leaders have repeatedly said that Zelenskyy, who has been sidelined in much of the US-Russian diplomacy to date, must play a greater role in future talks as a lasting peace cannot be achieved without his input. In a statement released on Saturday after the Alaska talks between Trump and Putin ended without any breakthrough, Starmer said in a statement posted to X: President Trump's efforts have brought us closer than ever before to ending Russia's illegal war in Ukraine. His leadership in pursuit of an end to the killing should be commended. While progress has been made, the next steps must be further talks involving President Zelenskyy. The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without him. Stay with us as we will be keeping you up to date with the latest political and military developments throughout the day. Updated at 10.05am CEST
