Europe25 June, 20263 min read
EU Hosts Taliban Officials in Brussels Deportation Talks After Belgium Issues One-Day Visas
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EU hosted Taliban officials in Brussels to discuss deportations and dignified returns. Taliban described the Brussels talks as historic, while rights groups condemned the engagement.
Brussels deportation talks
The European Union hosted a Taliban delegation in Brussels for talks on deportations after Belgium issued one-day visas for the team, overriding criticism from rights groups. The talks took place on Tuesday and focused on returning failed asylum-seekers, with the European Commission inviting a five-person delegation for discussions under a push to crack down on irregular migration and boost deportations. A Taliban official, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, said after the talks that the visit was meant to open “new avenues for positive interaction” and expand cooperation based on “mutual respect and common interests.”
Rights groups said the meeting undercuts the EU’s human rights obligations and could endanger people in Europe and Afghanistan, while the EU said it does not recognize the Taliban administration. The European Commission said the discussions focused on the possible return of Afghans “who have committed serious crimes and who pose a security threat” and practical issues like identifying them and issuing travel documents.
Outrage and competing frames
Cecilia Strada, a European lawmaker with the centre-left S&D group, called the meeting “a shameful chapter for Europe,” saying “The commission is legitimising a regime that tramples on the rights of women and girls.” Amnesty International’s Ludovic Laus told AFP at a small protest outside the commission offices in Brussels that “It is truly a slap in the face to the values supposedly upheld by the European Union and Belgium.” The European Commission and Sweden co-chaired what a spokesperson described as a “technical-level meeting” with “technical-level representatives of the de facto authorities of Afghanistan responsible for return and readmission.”
Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot said Belgium would comply with EU requests to grant visas while insisting, “Belgium cannot confer legitimacy on a regime accused of serious human rights violations.” In the Guardian’s briefing, Ashifa Kassam described the reaction as “a slap in the face,” and said the talks were framed as deportations for people who “pose a security threat” to the EU while an invitation letter referenced Afghans with “no legal right to be in the EU.”
What’s at stake next
The EU’s push to speed up and increase deportations is tied to a broader migration agenda, with the Commission saying the talks were aimed at identifying people and issuing travel documents for those ordered to leave. The Guardian briefing said the European Commission confirmed a meeting with the Taliban was being arranged after “20 member states called for concrete pathways to deport Afghans without legal residence permits.” Courthouse News reported that Alexis Deswaef, head of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights, said the EU was “crossing its own red lines” by engaging in such discussions.
“Any meeting, even if it is presented as technical or limited, risks legitimizing a regime responsible for gender apartheid in Afghanistan.”
In the same report, Amnesty International warned that “Any EU engagement on deportations to Afghanistan is reckless, dangerous and ignores the EU’s own legal obligations,” and Eve Geddie said the Taliban’s “institutionalized system of repression affects every aspect of daily life.” El País framed the stakes in terms of normalization, arguing that “Any meeting, even if it is presented as technical or limited, risks legitimizing a regime responsible for gender apartheid in Afghanistan.”