BERLIN: More than 250 human rights groups and other NGOs on Tuesday renewed pressure on the German government to take in hundreds of Afghans stranded in Pakistan who had been offered sanctuary by Berlin.

The organizations, including Amnesty International, Save the Children, Human Rights Watch and church groups, urged the government to bring the roughly 1,800 Afghans to Germany from Pakistan before the end of the year.

Those affected must be evacuated in the coming weeks to protect them from deportation back to Afghanistan and persecution by the Taliban, the groups said.

The Afghans were accepted under a refugee scheme set up by the previous German government but have been stuck in Pakistan since conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz took office in May and froze the program.

Around 350 people on the scheme have been able to come to Germany after winning legal challenges against the government in German courts.

According to the open letter sent to the government by the NGOs on Tuesday, most of those left in Afghanistan are women and children.

“Especially now, during the Christmas season, we remember humanity and compassion,” the letter says.

“Therefore, we appeal to you: Finally bring those to whom we have promised protection to safety.”

Those affected include those who served with German armed forces in Afghanistan, as well as journalists, human rights activists and members of the LGBT+ community.

In recent weeks the government has offered those still waiting in Pakistan money in order to forgo any right to settle in Germany.

However, the interior ministry said on November 18 that only 62 people had taken up the offer.

Pakistan has been cracking down on Afghans with no residence permits since 2023, with officials insisting the country cannot be a “transit camp” for those waiting to resettle in the West.

Germany says it has received assurances from the Pakistani government that the Afghans on the scheme will not be deported before the end of the year, but that this deadline cannot be extended.

Merz made a harsher immigration and asylum policy one of the flagship commitments of his campaign in February’s general election.

That vote saw the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) achieve its best ever result of just over 20 percent and in some recent polls it has opened up a narrow lead over Merz’s CDU/CSU alliance.