Belgium Grants One-Day Visas to Taliban Delegation for Migrant Talks

Belgium's Foreign Ministry issued one-day, Belgium-only visas to a Taliban delegation, enabling them to engage in negotiations with the European Commission concerning the repatriation of Afghan migrants. The visas explicitly restrict the delegation's movement to within Belgium, preventing any travel into the broader Schengen Area.

According to the office of Belgium's Foreign Minister, Maxime Prévot, both Belgian State Security and the General Intelligence and Security Service determined that the visiting delegation did not pose a threat to national security. This assessment paved the way for the technical-level meeting.

The de facto Afghan government, led by the Taliban, had confirmed its invitation to the Brussels meeting in early June. The European Commission had previously indicated in May its intent to discuss the deportation of irregular Afghan migrants. The exact date of the meeting was withheld for security reasons.

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The work is ongoing.

Markus Lammert, the European Commission's spokesperson for Home Affairs and Migration, confirmed that "work is ongoing" regarding the negotiations. He described the meeting as a technical-level follow-up to an initial discussion held in Afghanistan in January, initiated by EU member states.

However, the plan has drawn criticism. Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, described the Commission's invitation as "extremely worrying" in mid-April. Bennett cautioned that forced returns could violate the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits deporting individuals to countries where they face persecution or rights violations, particularly concerning women and former public officials from the pre-Taliban government.

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extremely worrying