Afghanistan Accountability Watch Warns Hosting Taliban Technical Delegation Could Normalize Group
Afghanistan Accountability Watch has expressed deep concern over reports that the European Commission might host a “technical delegation” from the Taliban administration. The group has warned that such an action could lead to the normalization of the Taliban and strengthen claims of their legitimacy. The delegation is expected to discuss the deportation of Afghan migrants from the European Union back to Afghanistan.
In a statement, the organization emphasized that hosting representatives of the Taliban regime, while widespread human rights violations—especially against women—have become institutionalized in Afghanistan, contradicts the stated criteria of the European Union for engagement with Afghanistan. The organization believes that the use of the term “technical delegation” should not serve as a diplomatic cover to normalize relations with the Taliban administration.
Afghanistan Accountability Watch further added that a possible invitation to the Taliban to Brussels would benefit the group more than any other party and could reinforce their transnational activities and claims to internal legitimacy. According to the organization, this would ultimately lead to increased restrictions against Afghan citizens within the country.
The group also warned that deporting migrants to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, regardless of their legal backgrounds or migration status, could put them at serious risk of human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention, torture, death, and enforced disappearance.
According to Afghanistan Accountability Watch, efforts by some European countries—including Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland—to return migrants to Afghanistan likely conflict with these countries’ international commitments concerning refugee protection, including the principle of non-refoulement.
The organization has called on the European Commission and EU member states to cancel any formal invitation to Taliban representatives and to demonstrate greater seriousness in implementing United Nations Security Council sanctions against the group.
France’s news agency has reported that a technical delegation from the Taliban administration is scheduled to travel to Brussels in the coming weeks to discuss migrant deportations. This visit is reportedly being coordinated by the European Commission and several member states, although no official invitation has yet been extended.
In recent months, European countries have sought solutions to return migrants—particularly those accused or convicted of crimes—to Afghanistan. Germany has already begun deporting some migrants in direct coordination with the Taliban administration, an action unfolding amid widespread concerns about the human rights situation in Afghanistan.
