BRUSSELS, (Belgium): Taliban representatives were expected to hold talks with the EU in Brussels on Tuesday about returning failed asylum-seekers to Afghanistan, in a visit criticised by rights activists.
The European Commission invited the five-person delegation for discussions under a push to crack down on irregular migration and boost deportations, despite it not formally recognising the Taliban administration.
The visit — the first by Taliban officials with EU representatives in Brussels — has drawn fierce pushback, with human rights campaigners saying it flies in the face of the bloc’s values.
“The Taliban have erased women and girls from public life,” said Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, adding she was “shaken and deeply disturbed” by the EU’s invitation.
“Europe must not legitimise a regime responsible for one of the worst human rights crises in the world,” said the education activist, who aged 15 was shot by Pakistan Taliban militants on her way home from school.
In its capacity as host country to the European institutions, Belgium confirmed Monday it had issued the delegation five one-day visas “after a security assessment” — valid just for Belgium and not the broader free-movement Schengen area.
The Taliban delegation was expected to be led by foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi, and was understood to be flying in and out of Belgium via Turkey. A commission spokesman said the “technical level” meeting, which had yet to take place, had been arranged upon the request of 20 EU countries and follows a January visit by EU officials to Afghanistan to explore the feasibility of the possible organisation of returns.
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