The European Union has received a Taliban delegation in Brussels for technical talks on returning Afghan nationals deemed security threats, marking the first such meeting on EU soil since the movement seized power in 2021. Belgium granted the delegation, led by foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi, one-day visas valid only for its territory and not the wider Schengen zone, after a security screening. The encounter, expected on Tuesday, follows a preliminary meeting in Afghanistan in January and responds to a request coordinated by Sweden and backed by twenty member states seeking help to repatriate individuals who have committed crimes in Europe and do not qualify for refugee status.

European officials frame the engagement as a pragmatic necessity rather than political recognition. A Commission spokesman described it as a “technical-level meeting” with “de facto authorities” aimed at establishing channels for returns where ordinary diplomatic relations are absent. Germany, which has already deported 28 convicted criminals to Kabul with Qatari mediation, is moving in parallel: four additional Taliban consular officials are to be posted to Berlin to issue travel documents for deportees, bringing the total to six. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has announced plans for a permanent “deportation air bridge” with three charter flights per month, while the foreign ministry says it will vet the proposed diplomats before issuing visas.

Viewed from Brussels, the initiative forms part of a broader hardening of migration policy. The European Parliament recently approved a regulation permitting the construction of deportation centres outside the bloc, and the Commission is simultaneously seeking to expand cooperation with Libyan authorities. Amnesty International has condemned that outreach, warning that the EU risks complicity in “racially discriminatory mass arrests, arbitrary detention, and unlawful collective expulsions” by Libyan factions. The rights group notes that the EU is pursuing a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Benghazi, an area controlled by forces with records of war crimes, even as anti-migrant sentiment intensifies in Libya.

In a contrasting perspective from the Global South, South Africa’s major labour federations have issued a joint statement through the National Economic Development and Labour Council cautioning against scapegoating migrants for economic crises. They attribute unemployment and crumbling public services to “economic stagnation, deindustrialisation, corruption, and weak governance,” not to foreign nationals, and condemn vigilante raids and demands for identity documents. The unions also criticise employers who hire undocumented workers to suppress wages, arguing that the solution lies in rebuilding state institutions rather than targeting vulnerable migrants. The EU’s diplomatic overture to the Taliban is expected to proceed despite objections from some European lawmakers and the personal disapproval of Belgium’s foreign minister, who said his country was obliged to facilitate meetings hosted by EU institutions. The dossier remains open, with the German vetting process ongoing and the Brussels talks likely to shape the pace of future returns.