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BERLIN: 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 program that the new center-right coalition intends to shut down.

After the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 by Western allies, Germany established several programs to resettle local staff as well as particularly vulnerable Afghans.

Since May 2021, Germany has admitted about 36,500 vulnerable Afghans including former local staff by various pathways.

Some 2,400 Afghans approved for admission are waiting in Pakistan to travel to Germany without a clear idea of when, as the program has been suspended pending a government review, the foreign ministry in Berlin said this month.

The court decision, in response to an urgent appeal by an Afghan woman and her family, ruled that the government was legally bound to honor its “irrevocable” commitment to them.

“The applicants assert that they are entitled to a visa and can no longer remain in Pakistan. They face deportation to Afghanistan, where they fear for their lives,” it said.

However, the government is within its rights to end the program for Afghans and refrain from issuing any new admission commitments going forward, according to the court in Berlin.

NGOs have said that an additional 17,000 Afghans are in the early stages of selection and application under the now-dormant scheme.

The court’s decision can be appealed.

The foreign ministry did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Germany’s new government has pledged a tougher stance on migration after several high-profile attacks and the rise of the far-right made it a pivotal issue in February elections.

As a part of that push, conservative Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has vowed to halt refugee admission programs and to deport people to Afghanistan and Syria.

GENEVA: The United Nations on Tuesday expressed serious concern over the deaths of at least 10 people in Kenya where police and protesters clashed during anti-government demonstrations the previous day.

The violence erupted on Saba Saba Day (meaning Seven Seven) when demonstrators annually mark the events of July 7, 1990 when Kenyans rose up to demand a return to multi-party democracy after years of autocratic rule by then-president Daniel arap Moi.

“We are deeply troubled by the killings yesterday of at least 10 people, as well as looting and destruction of property in Kenya,” UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

She said that “lethal ammunition, rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons were used” as police responded to the protests.

She highlighted that Kenyan police had reported that at least 11 people were killed, 52 police officers injured and 567 arrests made.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights meanwhile reported at least 10 deaths, 29 injuries, 37 arrests and two abductions, she added.

“We have also received reports of looting and damage to public and private property by unidentified individuals in multiple locations.”

Shamdasani said the violence came “barely two weeks after 15 protesters were reportedly killed and many more injured in Nairobi and other parts of Kenya on 25 June.”

UN rights chief Volker Turk renews “his call for calm and restrain, and full respect for the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” she said.

“It is essential that legitimate grievances at the root of these protests are addressed,” the spokeswoman said.

The UN rights office noted that Kenyan police had announced an investigation into earlier incidents.

Shamdasani stressed that “under international human rights law, intentional lethal force by law enforcement officers, including with firearms, should only be used when strictly necessary to protect life from an imminent threat.”

Turk reiterates “his call for all reported killings and other alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law, including with respect to use of force, to be promptly, thoroughly, independently and transparently investigated,” she said.

“Those responsible must be held to account.”