Swiss Trip by Taliban Delegation to Identify Afghan Deportees Draws Criticism
Reports say four members of a Taliban administration delegation stayed at a hotel in Geneva from August 19 to 21 last year, and the Swiss government spent about $16,250 on the trip. Each member of the delegation received a daily allowance of 150 Swiss francs, which Swiss officials said was intended to cover meeting expenses and local transport.
The trip was carried out to identify 13 Afghan nationals who had been convicted of crimes in Switzerland and were due to be expelled. Documents show that Swiss officials shared the personal information of these individuals with representatives of the Taliban administration before the interviews. Representatives of the group confirmed the identities of eight people, and after review, the identity of one more person was also confirmed, but documents were issued for only six. According to Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration, three people were ultimately deported to Afghanistan, and plans to expel the others are continuing.
The cooperation has drawn criticism from refugee law experts and human rights organisations. They have warned that disclosing the personal information of asylum seekers to the Taliban administration could put people at risk and lend legitimacy to the group.
Jean-Charles Chopard, a representative of the Social Democratic Party in the Swiss parliament, said the move went beyond consular services and argued that it gave legitimacy to an authoritarian regime, while the necessary guarantees for the future of the people concerned had not been secured.
In response, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration stressed that the Taliban delegation’s trip was consular in nature and that issuing visas did not amount to recognising the Taliban administration as the government of Afghanistan.
