KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – German media have reported that a three-member Taliban delegation has traveled to Germany without any public announcement.
According to Tagesschau, citing Germany’s public broadcaster NDR, the delegation arrived in Germany last Wednesday after making a stop in Qatar. The three Taliban representatives reportedly obtained 30-day German visas at the German diplomatic mission in Qatar.
The delegation is expected to remain in Germany for about three weeks. The members are currently staying at the Afghan Embassy in Berlin’s Grunewald district and are scheduled to travel next week to Bonn and Munich, where Afghan consulates are located. The German Foreign Ministry confirmed the delegation’s presence in response to an inquiry from NDR.
According to German media reports, the delegation’s visit is linked to preparations for further deportations of Afghan nationals from Germany. Their role is reportedly to help establish the necessary technical and consular arrangements, including the issuance and recognition of documents required for deportations.
The German Foreign Ministry described the Taliban representatives as a “technical support team” that had entered Germany temporarily to establish the necessary technical conditions for carrying out deportations more efficiently.
Although the Taliban have not publicly commented on the visit, German media reports indicate that the delegation is expected to assist German authorities in identifying Afghan nationals facing deportation and in obtaining documents recognized by the Taliban authorities.
Germany has been among the European countries most actively engaged with the Taliban on deportation arrangements. Berlin has repeatedly emphasized that its contacts with the Taliban are conducted at a technical level and do not constitute formal recognition of the group as Afghanistan’s legitimate government.
Germany also accepted two Taliban-appointed representatives at Afghanistan’s diplomatic missions in Germany as “technical staff.” One is based at the Afghan Embassy in Berlin, while the other is associated with the Afghan Consulate General in Bonn. Their presence was intended, among other things, to facilitate consular procedures and the identification and documentation of Afghan nationals facing deportation.
Germany suspended direct deportations to Afghanistan after the Taliban returned to power in 2021 and Berlin shut down its embassy in Kabul. Limited deportations of Afghan nationals convicted of crimes resumed in 2024 under former Chancellor Olaf Scholz, with those removals conducted through third countries.
Since taking office in May 2025, the current German government has made the deportation of foreign nationals convicted of crimes a key priority. German officials have held talks with Taliban representatives in Qatar and Kabul to establish regular direct deportation flights.
In mid-2025, Germany deported 81 Afghan men convicted of crimes via Qatar, marking the first such operation under the current government. In February, another 20 Afghan nationals were deported directly to Kabul following an agreement between German authorities and the Taliban.
German newspaper taz reported that Germany has deported 215 Afghan nationals since 2024, including 77 so far this year. The report said authorities are also considering the removal of Afghan nationals who have not committed crimes and are not regarded as security threats to the country.
Most recently, German media reported that around 30 Afghan migrants were deported to Kabul on a charter flight from Leipzig Airport early on August 25. According to Bild, the group included several Afghans who had no criminal records and were forcibly returned to Afghanistan. The deportation was met with protests from migrant rights activists who gathered at Leipzig Airport before the flight departed.
The move comes amid broader efforts across parts of the European Union to increase deportations of rejected asylum seekers and foreign nationals convicted of crimes. On June 23, the EU hosted a Taliban delegation in Brussels to discuss practical arrangements, including potential cooperation on deportation procedures.
The latest visit therefore marks another step in Germany’s increasingly pragmatic engagement with the Taliban. While Berlin continues to insist that it does not recognize the Taliban government, cooperation on deportations has led to growing contacts between German authorities and Taliban representatives inside Germany.
