EU hosts first Taliban delegation in Brussels for migrant return talks, drawing fierce rights backlash
In a first, the European Union met a Taliban delegation in Brussels on Tuesday, discussing the return of Afghan asylum seekers, as Belgium pushes to deport convicted criminals.
Unprecedented technical talks
On June 23, the European Commission and 15 member states, co-chaired by Sweden, held a technical-level meeting with five representatives of Afghanistan's de facto authorities, led by foreign ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi. The meeting, a follow-up to initial contacts in Kabul in January 2026, focused on identifying returnees, issuing travel documents, and organising deportations. A EU spokesperson, Markus Lammert, said the talks were an opportunity to establish contacts on immigration, particularly for returning people deemed security threats or serious criminals.
We are not going to recognise the Taliban regime, certainly not, but I think it is nonetheless important to talk to them about migration matters.
Belgium pushes for returns
Belgium's Asylum and Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt confirmed a separate bilateral meeting with the Afghan delegates. She described the discussions as positive and constructive, and announced that all documents were now assembled to submit a file to the Council of Ministers for effective returns. Van Bossuyt revealed that 157 Afghans are incarcerated in Belgium, 72 without any right to stay, and that another group released in recent years has vanished underground.
We cannot tolerate Afghans who have committed serious crimes here walking freely on Belgian streets after their prison sentence. Human rights are essential, but victims also have rights. Our citizens deserve security.
Outrage from rights advocates
The visit drew sharp condemnation. Amnesty International Belgium's Ludovic Laus called it beyond scandal, accusing the EU of compromising with a completely liberticidal regime. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai said she was shaken and deeply troubled, warning that the Taliban arrest, beat and execute women who dare to speak out or disobey their rules. A protest was held outside the Commission building. Jeff Crisp, a former UNHCR official now at Oxford, warned that returned Afghans would face persecution.
Europe must not legitimise a regime responsible for one of the worst human rights crises in the world.
A delicate balance
The EU has consistently refused to recognise the Taliban government since it returned to power in 2021 after a US-led NATO withdrawal. The Taliban supreme leader is subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for crimes against humanity and gender persecution. Yet the Commission argues that engagement is the only way to enable deportations. Belgium's foreign ministry issued a one-day visa restricting the delegation's presence, and officials insisted the talks were purely technical, not a political endorsement.
