Zürcher Nachrichten - EU hosts Taliban officials for talks on migrant returns

The European Commission invited a five-person delegation for discussions under a push to crack down on irregular migration and boost deportations -- although the European Union does not formally recognise the Taliban administration.

"The meetings were constructive, and there is hope that they will lead to positive developments," an Afghan official with direct knowledge of the talks, who requested anonymity due to their sensitivity, told AFP.

A spokesman for the European Commission said 15 EU member states participated in the "technical level meeting" co-chaired by Sweden, underscoring broad interest for an initiative that critics said flew in the face of the 27-nation bloc's values.

"This is a shameful chapter for Europe," said Cecilia Strada, a European lawmaker with the centre-left S&D group. "The commission is legitimising a regime that tramples on the rights of women and girls."

European governments have sought a tougher stance on migration as public opinion has hardened, fuelling far-right electoral gains across the continent.

With migrant arrivals down in 2025, the EU's focus has turned to improving the repatriation system. Currently, less than 30 percent of people who are ordered to leave actually return to their country of origin.

The commission said the talks focused on the possible return of Afghans "who have committed serious crimes and who pose a security threat" and dealt with practical issues such as identifying them and issuing travel documents.

They followed a January visit by EU officials to Afghanistan and aimed at providing member states, which are responsible for arranging repatriations, the opportunity to "establish contacts" with Taliban authorities.

The meeting was the first by Taliban officials with EU representatives in Brussels.

- 'Slap in the face' -

EU nations and the commission deny that hosting Taliban officials was tantamount to recognising the government in Kabul.

But campaigners said the outreach undermined the bloc's international standing on human rights and raised questions as to what Brussels was ready to offer Kabul in return for cooperation on migration.

The Afghan official said discussions focused on resuming consular services for Afghans in Europe, on "confidence-building measures" and "a dignified return process".

"It is truly a slap in the face to the values supposedly upheld by the European Union and Belgium," Ludovic Laus of Amnesty International told AFP at a small protest outside the commission offices in the Belgian capital.

"They claim to defend international law and human rights, yet here they are compromising themselves with a regime that is utterly repressive."

European governments shut their embassies in Kabul when the Taliban authorities returned to power in 2021 and imposed their strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Women in Afghanistan must be almost entirely covered when they leave home and are banned from a host of public places, including parks and gyms, while girls' education stops at age 12.

"The Taliban have erased women and girls from public life," said Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai -- who was shot by Pakistani Taliban militants aged 15 and said she was "shaken and deeply disturbed" by the EU's invitation.

As host country to the European institutions, Belgium confirmed Monday it had issued Taliban representatives five one-day visas "after a security assessment" -- valid just for Belgium and not the broader free-movement Schengen area.

The delegation was led by foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi, and included representatives of the Afghan interior ministry.

This month, the European Union's migration chief Magnus Brunner defended the outreach, saying Brussels had no other option than to talk to the Taliban government about returning irregular migrants from Afghanistan.

EU countries received about a million asylum applications filed by Afghans between 2013 and 2024, according to the bloc's data agency. About half as many were approved over the period.

Around 20 of the EU's 27 member states have expressed interest in returning some migrants without a right to stay to Afghanistan.

Some countries have pushed ahead, with Germany deporting more than 100 Afghans with criminal convictions since 2024, via charter flights facilitated by Qatar, and Austria following suit.

Rights groups have questioned the legality and ethics of returning migrants to a country that is in the midst of a severe humanitarian crisis, with millions facing hunger and economic hardship, according to the United Nations.

L.Muratori--NZN