The European Commission has told AFP it plans to invite Taliban officials to Brussels in the near future for talks on returning migrants to Afghanistan, and sources say a letter will be sent “imminently” to Kabul to set a date for the meeting. The visit, which the EU says is being coordinated with Sweden, would follow two recent trips by European officials to Afghanistan on the same issue and is described by a Commission spokesperson as a possible “follow-up meeting at technical level in Brussels with the de-facto authorities in Afghanistan.” No specific date has yet been set.
Around 20 EU countries are exploring ways to return migrants — particularly those with criminal convictions — to Afghanistan as part of a wider tightening of migration rules. In an October letter several governments urged the EU to find diplomatic and practical solutions, and the Commission noted that a technical meeting took place in Kabul in January 2026 as part of that process.
The proposed contacts raise practical and ethical challenges because the Taliban are not formally recognised by the EU and have been largely isolated internationally since their return to power in 2021. To enter Belgium, which hosts the EU institutions, Taliban officials would need special exemptions — measures Belgian authorities appear prepared, in theory, to grant.
The push on returns comes as Afghanistan faces a deepening humanitarian crisis. Since 2023 more than five million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan, often forcibly, and aid organisations say most live in extreme hardship without stable housing or work. Between 2013 and 2024 EU countries received roughly one million asylum applications from Afghans, about half of which were approved, and Afghans remained the largest group of asylum applicants in the EU in 2025.
Some member states have already moved ahead. Germany has deported more than 100 Afghans with criminal convictions since 2024, using charter flights facilitated by Qatar, and Austria received a delegation of Taliban representatives in Vienna in mid-September. Belgium, Sweden and other states are reported to be considering similar arrangements, backed by migration hawks.
Humanitarian and rights groups have strongly criticised the returns drive. “Deporting Afghans back to a country where almost half of the population cannot feed themselves is not a migration policy; it is a decision that could cost lives,” Lisa Owen, International Rescue Committee country director for Afghanistan, said. Other advocates warn a Brussels visit could allow Taliban officials to identify individuals they want returned, putting fundamental rights at risk.
Diplomatic sources contacted by AFP say the Brussels talks are primarily technical, aimed at resolving issues such as how to issue passports for people whose embassies in Europe are not recognised by Taliban authorities. European officials who visited Kabul also investigated practical matters including the handling capacity of Kabul airport and other logistics.
Original Source: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/eu-to-invite-taliban-officials-to-brussels-for-migrant-return-talks-11481487#publisher=newsstand
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Publish Date: 2026-05-12 04:24:00
