The European Union is edging closer to a deal with Afghanistan’s Taliban government that would speed up the deportation of Afghan migrants, including rejected asylum seekers. The push comes despite repeated warnings from the United Nations and human rights groups that anyone sent back faces arbitrary detention, torture and even executions. Since the Taliban took control in August 2021, the U.N. has documented at least 160 extrajudicial killings of former Afghan security forces by the regime, many of them former prisoners released after the takeover. The EU’s plan relies on Taliban assurances that deportees won’t be harmed, but no independent monitors are allowed inside Afghanistan to verify these claims.

Talks restarted this month in Doha, Qatar, after the EU agreed to ease some sanctions on Taliban officials. The move signals a shift in Europe’s approach, moving from outright rejection of Taliban rule to pragmatic engagement. EU officials say they need to reduce the number of Afghans crossing irregularly into Europe, with nearly 18,000 arriving by land and sea in 2023. But critics argue the policy normalizes a regime accused of gender apartheid, crushing dissent and sheltering terrorist groups like ISIS-K.

Return flights have already carried more than 12,000 Afghans back to Kabul since 2021, according to EU data. Most were economic migrants, but human rights lawyers say some were asylum seekers whose cases were still being reviewed. The EU insists all deportees had their appeals exhausted, but lawyers point to cases where appeals were denied in days, often without proper legal representation. Germany alone deported 234 Afghans in 2023, up from 152 in 2022, while Sweden sent back 187 in the same period.

Human rights groups are preparing legal challenges, arguing the deportations violate the EU’s own laws and international treaties. The European Court of Human Rights has already blocked some forced returns, but the EU is pushing for bilateral agreements with Taliban authorities to bypass such rulings. Norway and Denmark have already signed deals, while other EU states watch closely. The Taliban, meanwhile, have made no public commitments to protect deportees, though they’ve occasionally promised “blood money” payments to families of executed detainees.

The policy is dividing Europe’s leaders. Hardline governments like Italy’s want to use deportations as a deterrent, while countries like France and Spain argue it’s inhumane and legally risky. Germany’s interior ministry has warned that returning Afghans to certain provinces could amount to a death sentence. Yet the pressure to control migration is growing, with far-right parties gaining ground across the bloc. The EU’s migration commissioner, Ylva Johansson, has defended the approach, saying it’s the only way to “restore order” at Europe’s borders.

What this means for Afghans in limbo

For the roughly 300,000 Afghans still in Europe with pending asylum claims, the policy could mean the difference between safety and deportation. Those who arrived before the Taliban takeover in 2021 are more likely to win protection, but most newcomers face an uphill battle. Greece and Italy have already started using “fast-track” processing to reject more claims, cutting appeal times from months to weeks. In some cases, lawyers say clients are given barely 48 hours to gather evidence before their cases are heard. Sweden has gone further, suspending all new asylum applications from Afghans, citing “changed circumstances” in the country.

The EU’s gamble is that the Taliban will cooperate, but so far, there’s little evidence they’re willing to bend. Taliban officials have repeatedly refused to allow EU monitors into Afghanistan, and their public statements suggest they see deportees as potential recruits or threats. The regime’s amnesty decrees—widely ignored—promise no persecution, but former government employees and journalists say they’re living in constant fear. Women’s rights activists, already barred from most jobs, face even greater risks if returned.

Human rights lawyers are preparing cases that could reach the European Court of Justice, arguing the EU is violating its own Charter of Fundamental Rights. They point to a 2019 ruling that blocked returns to Syria, where conditions were similarly dangerous. The difference now is that the EU is making deals directly with the Taliban, not through a recognized government. That raises new questions about whether the bloc can legally send people to a territory controlled by a group it still classifies as a terrorist organization.

For now, the deportation flights continue. In January, a plane left Germany for Kabul carrying 22 Afghans. Among them was a 24-year-old former translator who worked with German forces. He told reporters before boarding that he’d already received death threats from Taliban sympathizers in Kabul. His lawyer says he has no family left in Afghanistan after his father was killed in a Taliban raid. The plane took off anyway.

What You Need to Know

  • Source: RFI
  • Published: May 15, 2026 at 16:09 UTC
  • Category: World
  • Topics: #rfi · #france · #world-news · #war · #conflict · #afghan

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Curated by GlobalBR News · May 15, 2026

🇧🇷 Resumo em Português

A União Europeia avança com planos de deportar refugiados afegãos de volta ao país governado pelo Taleban, mesmo diante de alertas sobre execuções, tortura e falta de julgamentos justos no Afeganistão. A decisão, anunciada após pressão de alguns Estados-membros, ignora os riscos extremos que muitos desses migrantes enfrentariam ao retornar, incluindo perseguição por gênero, religião ou opinião política. A medida reacende um debate global sobre soberania nacional versus direitos humanos, colocando em xeque os compromissos internacionais da UE com a proteção de refugiados.

Para o Brasil e os falantes de língua portuguesa, o tema ganha relevância por dois motivos: primeiro, porque o país tem sido um destino emergente para refugiados afegãos nos últimos anos, acolhendo centenas desde a tomada do poder pelo Taleban, em 2021; segundo, porque a postura da UE pode influenciar políticas migratórias em outras regiões, inclusive na América Latina, onde a discussão sobre acolhimento humanitário ainda é incipiente. Além disso, a medida europeia levanta questões éticas: como equilibrar segurança interna com a responsabilidade de proteger vidas, especialmente quando o país de origem oferece um ambiente de risco comprovado? O Brasil, que já tem tradição em abrigar perseguidos políticos, pode se tornar um contraponto à política restritiva da UE.

A decisão final cabe agora aos tribunais europeus e à pressão da sociedade civil, que já prometeu contestar as deportações na Justiça. Enquanto isso, organizações de direitos humanos alertam que a política poderá resultar em mais mortes e sofrimento, forçando governos e organizações internacionais a repensar o futuro do asilo no século 21.

🇪🇸 Resumen en Español

La Unión Europea avanza en su polémica estrategia de deportar a solicitantes de asilo afganos a pesar de los graves riesgos que enfrentan bajo el régimen talibán. Bruselas justifica estas repatriaciones con el argumento de que Afganistán es un país “seguro”, una postura que choca frontalmente con los informes de organizaciones de derechos humanos que denuncian ejecuciones extrajudiciales, torturas sistemáticas y juicios fraudulentos contra disidentes y minorías.

La decisión europea no solo ignora las advertencias de la ONU y Amnistía Internacional, sino que envía un mensaje contradictorio sobre el compromiso de la UE con los derechos fundamentales. Para los hispanohablantes, especialmente en España y otros países con comunidades afganas, este giro político plantea preguntas incómodas: ¿hasta qué punto Bruselas prioriza la seguridad sobre la vida humana? La presión sobre las fronteras exteriores de la UE, como las de Grecia o Italia, podría agravarse si más países imitan esta política, dejando a miles de afganos en un limbo legal donde el peligro es evidente y la protección, ausente.