It is difficult for refugees from Afghanistan who do not have a valid passport to travel abroad. This is because their home country does not currently issue new passports. They therefore need replacement documents. Since the beginning of the year, twelve Afghans in the district of Tübingen have received a travel document for foreigners from the district office. Seven refugees from Afghanistan received a travel document for refugees. This was announced by the district administration office at the request of tuenews INTERNATIONAL. Refusals are not systematically recorded; the district office has only registered one for this year.
A travel document for refugees, the so-called “Blue Passport“, is available to all refugees who are recognized under the Geneva Refugee Convention. However, the hurdles are higher for all those who are only protected in Germany by a ban on deportation. According to the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Justice, they can “receive a travel document for foreigners in individual cases if they can credibly demonstrate that it is unreasonable or impossible for them to fulfill the passport requirement“. This was announced by the Ministry at the request of tuenews INTERNATIONAL. According to the Tübingen District Office, Afghan citizens were previously only able to obtain such a passport to meet family members in Iran, for example, if there was a compelling reason to do so – such as if a family member was seriously ill.
According to the Tübingen District Office, however, the rules have been relaxed somewhat. The state‘s Ministry of Justice no longer assumes a “temporary lack of passport“. “An asserted and proven need to travel, for example vacation trips, is now sufficient,“ according to the Tübingen district office. The district administration office is subject to the regional council and the federal state when making such decisions. Because, according to the district office, other immigration authorities in the state had interpreted the regulation more generously, discussions were held with the regional council.
According to the ministry, the situation regarding the issuing of documents has changed repeatedly in recent months and years. In July 2022, just under a year after the Taliban took over the government, the Afghan embassy in Berlin officially announced that it and the country‘s consulates general would not be accepting any new passport applications.
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Das Landratsamt in Tübingen. Foto: tuenews INTERNATIONAL / Mostafa Elyasian.
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