The European Union is preparing to host a Taliban delegation in Brussels for talks on deportations, sparking outrage among human rights groups and critics who say the move legitimises a regime that oppresses women and imposes brutal punishments. The European Commission's home affairs directorate is organising the meeting, which officials describe as 'technical' and focused on aid delivery and women's rights. However, observers note that the real agenda is to secure cooperation on forcibly returning rejected asylum seekers to Afghanistan, where returnees face arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and a severe food crisis.
The invitation comes as the EU's new migration and asylum pact is set to take effect on 12 June, introducing what more than 80 human rights organisations call 'ICE-style' detection, raids, detention and offshore return practices across Europe. The pact includes building offshore processing centres and third-country deportation hubs, expanded detention powers including the right to detain children, and fast-track removals. Critics, including Green MEP Mélissa Camara, have labelled the pact a 'legal arsenal serving a xenophobic ideology'.
The EU's shift towards harsher migration policies has been described as a 'nadir' by observers, who note that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has increasingly partnered with authoritarian governments to keep out unwanted migrants. The move to engage with the Taliban, which the EU does not formally recognise, has been condemned as a betrayal of European values. Human rights groups warn that the talks risk normalising a regime that has imposed sweeping restrictions on women's rights, including bans on secondary and higher education for girls and women, limits on employment, and restrictions on access to public spaces.
The dehumanising language used by EU officials—referring to cash-for-migration deals as 'partnerships', deportation as 'return management', and migrants as 'criminals' or 'illegals'—has been criticised for shifting attention away from rights and dignity towards control and enforcement. The European Network Against Racism has highlighted an 'imagined whiteness' that defines who belongs in Europe and who remains a permanently suspect outsider. As the EU moves from migration management to deterrence and now to deportation, observers fear that the circle of exclusion will continue to expand, affecting all members of society.
