{"id":125815,"date":"2026-05-13T11:27:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T06:27:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=125815"},"modified":"2026-05-13T11:27:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T06:27:42","slug":"backlash-as-eu-invites-taliban-for-migrant-return-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125815\/","title":{"rendered":"Backlash as EU invites Taliban for migrant return talks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BRUSSELS(National Times)- The European Commission said on Tuesday it has invited Taliban officials to Brussels for talks on returning migrants to Afghanistan \u2014 pushing back at criticism of a move fraught with practical and ethical concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EU migration officials, in coordination with member state Sweden, sent a letter to Taliban authorities to seek to set a date for a meeting in the Belgian capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 27-nation bloc does not formally recognise the Taliban administration, which has been largely isolated on the global stage since it imposed a strict version of law upon returning to power<\/a> in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis does not by any means constitute a recognition,\u201d said commission spokesman Markus Lammert, who characterised the meeting as a \u201cfollow-up\u201d to two rounds of \u201ctechnical\u201d talks by EU and Taliban officials in Afghanistan. But the move drew swift pushback from migrant advocates and the political left, with Green EU lawmaker Melissa Camara warning the commission \u201cnot to cross this red line\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hosting Taliban officials in Brussels, Camara said, would amount to \u201cabandoning the values and rights on which the European Union is founded.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humanitarian crisis<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of a broader tightening of immigration policies, around 20 of the EU\u2019s 27 member states are exploring how to return migrants \u2014 particularly those with criminal convictions \u2014 to Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a letter in October, several urged the EU to find diplomatic and practical ways to move the issue forward. \u201cWe\u2019re speaking here about persons who pose a security threat. These are the persons that member states want to return,\u201d Lammert said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Migrant advocates say the returns push raises serious ethical questions, coming as Afghanistan confronts a severe humanitarian crisis. Since 2023, more than five million Afghans have returned<\/a> from Iran and Pakistan, often forcibly. According to international organisations, most live in extreme hardship, without stable housing or employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDeporting 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,\u201d says Lisa Owen, the International Rescue Committee\u2019s country director for Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also practical questions: to travel to Brussels, Taliban officials would need to be granted an exceptional visa. Belgium\u2019s foreign ministry said it would in principle be ready to do so, in its capacity as host country to the European institutions. The commission declined to say who, specifically, would be invited on the Taliban side, and who would foot the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Germany leads charge<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

EU countries received about a million asylum applications filed by Afghans between 2013 and 2024, according to the bloc\u2019s data agency. About half as many were approved over the period. In 2025, Afghans still \u2014 by far \u2014 accounted for the largest share of asylum applicants in the EU.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BRUSSELS(National Times)- The European Commission said on Tuesday it has invited Taliban officials to Brussels for talks on returning migrants to Afghanistan \u2014 pushing back at criticism of a move fraught with practical and ethical concerns. EU migration officials, in coordination with member state Sweden, sent a letter to Taliban authorities to seek to set […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nBacklash as EU invites Taliban for migrant return talks - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125815\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Backlash as EU invites Taliban for migrant return talks - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BRUSSELS(National Times)- The European Commission said on Tuesday it has invited Taliban officials to Brussels for talks on returning migrants to Afghanistan \u2014 pushing back at criticism of a move fraught with practical and ethical concerns. 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