Rights Groups Warn EU Against Afghan Deportations as Taliban Delegation Attends Brussels Talks

Rights Groups Warn EU Against Afghan Deportations as Taliban Delegation Attends Brussels Talks
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Amnesty International and UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett have warned the European Union against deporting Afghan nationals, saying Afghanistan remains unsafe under Taliban rule and that forced returns could violate international human rights obligations.

Amnesty International has urged the European Union and its member states to abandon plans to deport Afghan nationals and halt readmission talks with the Taliban, warning that Afghanistan cannot be considered safe for returns.

The appeal came as the European Union hosted a five-member Taliban delegation in Brussels for talks on the return and readmission of Afghan nationals without legal residency rights in the bloc. European officials described the meeting as a technical dialogue and insisted it did not amount to diplomatic recognition of the Taliban government.

According to the European Commission, officials from the Commission and representatives of 15 EU member states attended the meeting, which was co-chaired by the Commission and Sweden. Belgium granted the Taliban delegation one-day visas restricted to Belgian territory.

Amnesty warned that any cooperation on deportations could expose returnees to persecution, arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance, and other abuses. The organization said such measures would breach the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning people to countries where they face serious harm.

Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, also warned European countries against deportations, stressing that diplomatic assurances cannot remove the risk of torture or abuse.

Human rights groups and European lawmakers criticized the Brussels meeting, saying it risked legitimizing the Taliban while human rights conditions in Afghanistan continue to deteriorate. German MEP Hannah Neumann warned that every official invitation and meeting sends a political signal.

Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on women and girls, including bans on secondary and university education, limits on employment, and strict controls on public life.