Key facts
- EU officials met with Taliban representatives in Brussels to discuss the return of irregular Afghan migrants.
- The meeting was criticized by Afghan women and human rights advocates for potentially legitimizing the Taliban regime.
- The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned against forced returns to Afghanistan due to human rights concerns.
- Only 2% of Afghan nationals ordered to leave the EU were actually returned in the first nine months of last year.
- The Taliban seeks the resumption of Afghan consular services in Europe as part of the discussions.
European Union officials met with a Taliban delegation in Brussels to discuss the repatriation of Afghan migrants, a move that has sparked significant outrage among Afghan women and human rights advocates. The EU faces a dilemma in managing migrant returns without formally recognizing the Taliban regime, which seized power in 2021.
UN and migration experts have cautioned that maintaining a boycott of the Taliban government while seeking to repatriate Afghans is becoming increasingly difficult. The meeting, the second of its kind and the first held in Brussels, aimed to accelerate the return of irregular migrants, particularly those deemed security threats or who have committed serious crimes. This initiative has drawn strong criticism, with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, stating that forced returns to a country where individuals may face torture are unacceptable.
Data shows a low return rate for Afghan nationals from the EU, with only 340 out of 14,270 ordered to leave being repatriated in the first nine months of last year. Sweden's Migration Minister, Johan Forssell, defended the talks as necessary to protect national interests, while acknowledging that Afghanistan has not historically cooperated with accepting its nationals back without incentives.
The Taliban's specific requests include the resumption of Afghan consular services in Europe, which experts believe is a key objective for the regime to signal domestic legitimacy and exert control over dissidents abroad. Concerns have been raised that such consular access could provide the Taliban with data on human rights defenders and political activists.
The EU described the engagement as "operational engagement" to minimize public backlash, as liaising with the Taliban remains a sensitive issue. Civil society organizations protested the meeting, arguing that EU countries are prioritizing deportation goals over public opinion. Experts consider financial compensation to Kabul unlikely, but a large-scale return of migrants could exacerbate Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis, given the country's severe conditions and the Taliban's repressive policies.