A photo hangs above the living room table; it is the only decoration in the sparse apartment.
Accurately gelled hair, a suit, a self-confident smile, that's what Mohammad Nadeem shows.
It comes from a time when the 54-year-old had a big house in Afghanistan, a fancy car, expensive carpets, and he earned well.
He worked for the state-run German Society for International Cooperation, or GIZ for short.
He was a security advisor, the man for the rough stuff, and kept the backs of the white visitors from Europe.
Nadeem negotiated with the Taliban and maintained a network of informants.
The Nadeem sitting here at the table looks decades older.
He now has gray hair and “worry lines,” as he says.
He now lives in Kampala, Uganda's capital, without furniture, without a job, without prospects.
When the Taliban invaded Kabul, people like Nadeem had to flee; they were seen as collaborators of the West and enemies of the country.
But it was precisely the West that let them down; only a few local workers were evacuated.
Many had to fend for themselves.
»Nobody cares if you die, after all you're just an Afghan.
In the end, it was African countries that welcomed us with open arms," says Nadeem.
When the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, Uganda, which is already hosting 1.5 million refugees from other African countries, also opened its doors to Afghans: They were able to apply with an electronic visa.
For many it was the only option to get out of the country.
And so dozens of families are still stranded here, in Africa of all places.
In neighboring Rwanda, a complete girls' school including teaching staff has even arrived.
The exact number of Afghan refugees in East Africa is not known, "but there are many of us," says Nadeem, who is here with his wife, five children and a grandson.
For Nadeem, it was probably just one day that made the difference.
He has to laugh when he talks about it because it sounds so crazy.
It's a bitter laugh, one that gets stuck in your throat.
Nadeem, "November, Alpha, Delta, Echo, Echo, Mike." The Afghan likes to use the NATO alphabet when he has to spell something, old habit.
In his home country he worked for international organizations for years, most of the time for GIZ.
His contract with the Germans ended on December 31, 2012.
He says himself that he quit. If he had only waited a day, he wouldn't be sitting here now, but perhaps in Berlin or Eschborn.
GIZ is based there.
The responsible German development ministry is helping local Afghan workers who are at risk to come to Germany.
Since the Taliban overran Kabul and the country has been under Islamist control, former aid workers have been military targets.
But only those who have worked for the Germans since January 1, 2013 are entitled to a safe life in Germany.
Nadeem's application was rejected by email because his employment was "several years ago," says the letter from the Development Ministry.
What this means is that it ended before the deadline.
Of course they are concerned about the safety of the people in Afghanistan, it says.
But: “Unfortunately we cannot help you.” A day remains a day, and the German bureaucracy makes no exceptions.
Nadeem's youngest son Zohair, eleven years old, is just coming into the living room.
It is his birthday today.
There would have been a celebration in Kabul, the whole family would have come, everyone would have eaten together and eaten sweets.
Maybe there would have been a bouncy castle.
There is none of that here.
Zohair doesn't even go to school; there is no suitable place for him in Kampala.
The story of Nadeem's escape is convoluted.
When the Taliban took over Kabul, they started asking about him, he says.
Then these dubious calls came to his cell phone, at some point he turned it off and went into hiding.
Shortly afterwards, his brother was arrested, he says, and shows photos of an allegedly tortured body.
Nadeem's house was searched and looted by the Taliban.
Many of the accounts cannot be independently verified.
But if you talk to former associates of the former GIZ employee, they paint a picture of a man who was in the crossfire for the Germans and whose services were extremely valuable.
"Without people like Nadeem, the snots at GIZ wouldn't have been able to do anything in their offices," says Jürgen Schwarz, a former colleague with whom Nadeem worked in Kabul.
»We, the Germans, took advantage of him and thereby put his family in danger. Now we'll just leave him hanging. It’s so incredibly shameful,” says Eberhard Steffe, who was Nadeem’s superior at GIZ at the time.
»He was irreplaceable. People like him took the risk and exposed themselves to the danger,” says Oystein Larsen, former GIZ risk management coordinator in northern Afghanistan.
All of this had its price.
The Taliban once sent a letter to Nadeem's house, and a GIZ colleague had it translated into German as proof.
“If you and your family want to stay alive, then work with the Taliban,” it says.
“Otherwise you will be punished very soon for the evil act” – what was meant was collaboration with the Germans, the “infidels.”
The previous threats against Nadeem are well documented.
Also from his time after GIZ, when he worked for the American non-governmental organization Counterpart International.
SPIEGEL has a letter from his former superior stating that the Haqqani network - a subgroup of the Taliban - is threatening his life.
“This danger continues,” says the letter, dated November 30, 2018.
When Counterpart International was attacked by Islamists in Kabul in 2019, he took the team to a safe bunker, says Nadeem.
When the Taliban took over Kabul two years later and Nadeem and his family were in hiding, he believed that the Germans would get him out of there, or the Americans with their military men - after all, he had stuck his neck out for them.
The Afghan says he wrote at least 30 emails, but there was usually no response.
So he found his way to Iran himself and bribed the border guards with $200 in his passport in order to be allowed to leave unmolested.
From there there were few options, including Rwanda or Uganda, two of the few countries still issuing online visas to Afghans.
On October 19, 2022, Nadeem's plane landed at Entebbe International Airport to an almost festive reception.
The Ugandan government was celebrated for welcoming the refugees; they were accommodated in fancy hotels, Nadeem in the Sheraton.
The costs for many Afghans were covered either by international organizations or even the US government.
Parked in Africa.
At that time they still had the vague hope of being able to move on at some point.
“The saddest moment was when we had to move out of the hotel after a week,” remembers Nadeem.
Then he realized that he was now stuck.
"I had no idea, didn't know anyone." In the end, it was a swimming instructor from the pool at the Sheraton who helped him.
He organized an apartment for the family.
The initial luxury has long since disappeared.
There is only one bed in the apartment, the size of a child, otherwise only thin mattresses on the floor.
The landlord donated the table and chairs, but there is no other furniture.
Nadeem repeatedly interrupts the conversation in the middle of a sentence, then opens his computer or cell phone and looks for a document that is supposed to support his statements.
For example, the letters of recommendation from his former superiors at GIZ, or from the German ISAF contingent:
»Mr Nadeem has always been a reliable and proven partner for me.«
»I know Mr. Nadeem as a committed, customer-focused professional. He enjoyed great trust among the employees.«
»I hereby give Mr Nadeem my highest recommendations.«
He sent all these letters around, again and again, to German politicians.
A network of former colleagues helps him in his fight against German bureaucracy.
So far in vain.
Zarlasht Nadeem, his wife, gets up and brings some dates and figs for the guests.
She wears her blue scarf swinging loosely around her head.
She has her own folder on Nadeem's computer.
The 47-year-old not only knows the German GIZ from her husband's stories, but also worked in a GIZ agricultural project herself until 2017, as an office worker in northern Afghanistan.
She also applied for admission to Germany, also in vain.
On November 3, 2022, she received a response from her employer, a GIZ contractual partner: “Unfortunately, the German government has decided that the evidence provided is not sufficient.
Your application has been rejected.”
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Apparently the risk to the Afghan woman was assessed as insufficient.
"That's nonsense, I was threatened, and as a woman who worked for the West, I'm always in danger," says Zarlesht Nadeem.
In response to SPIEGEL's request, the responsible Federal Development Ministry confirmed that Mohammad and Zarlesht Nadeem worked at GIZ or a GIZ contract company.
For data protection reasons, we cannot comment further on individual cases.
In general, it will be examined
whether
an individual risk can be proven due to the work on German development projects, which went beyond the general - unfortunately quite high - risk to life in Afghanistan.
“
So far, 6,600 reports of danger from local employees have been received, of which 3,400 have been approved.
This also means that almost every second application has not been approved so far.
Mohammed Nadeem wants to show that his family is not alone.
He takes the SPIEGEL team through the streets of Kampala, pushing through the hustle and bustle of motorcycle taxis.
After a few minutes of walking, Nadeem turns into an entrance, climbs to the third floor, takes off his shoes and knocks on the door.
A young man opens the door, invites us into the living room and serves tea.
Then Khalid Rahmat comes in, an older man with a white beard, deep wrinkles and a bad cough.
"Sorry, I'm sick, I have a fever," he says and slowly sits down on the thin mat on the floor.
Rahmat has already experienced a lot in Afghanistan. He worked in the secret service under the Soviets, later made his way as a businessman, under the Taliban and then in supposedly free Afghanistan.
His brother emigrated to Germany and has German citizenship.
In 2008 he returned to his homeland as a translator and “cultural mediator” for the German ISAF soldiers.
Rahmat still remembers how his brother drove up to him in the winter of 2009, in ISAF cars, with soldiers securing the road.
Not a good idea: "After that, the landlord asked me to move out, saying it was too dangerous here, as a collaborator with the West." This reputation followed him from then on, followed by several moves, a life of worry, until the worst nightmare came true in August 2021 became: The Taliban marched into Kabul.
Hamid Rahmat, his brother, immediately took action.
He telephoned the German ministries from Hanover.
»I tried everywhere, but usually there wasn't even an answer.
I'm just angry," he says on the phone.
Months passed, Khalil Rahmat fled to Pakistan, but had to return when Afghans were expelled from the country.
Afterwards he was stuck in Afghanistan again, hiding.
Then he did like Nadeem: he made his own way to Iran and from there by plane to Uganda.
He only arrived here in Africa on January 16, 2024, a few weeks ago.
Was he disappointed with the Germans?
“Oh my God,” he replies loudly, “the Africans are poor, but at least they show a little humanity.”
Nadeem sits next to him, he translates, and laughs that bitter laugh again.
He himself is now hoping for the Americans; he has applied for admission to the USA in a special program for people who have worked for US organizations.
But so far there hasn't even been an interview date.
At least he is now recognized as a refugee in Uganda; he could work if there was work.
He still spends most of his day at the computer, writing e-mails with pleading appeals.
So far in vain.
“You’re letting us all down,” he says as he says goodbye.
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