KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The French Foreign Ministry confirmed on Thursday that it has opened technical talks with the Taliban to facilitate the deportation of Afghan nationals living illegally in France who are considered a threat to national security.
A ministry spokesperson told Radio France Internationale that the discussions are strictly technical and do not constitute recognition of the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
“This is an initiative to ensure the safety of the French people. It’s a strictly technical dialogue to facilitate the removal of Afghan nationals who are in the country illegally and who pose a national security risk. These are dangerous people,” the spokesperson said.
A diplomatic source told Agence France-Presse on Wednesday that France had begun discussions to enable the direct return of Afghans to Afghanistan. The source said the talks would not change Paris’s policy toward Afghanistan and that France would continue supporting the Afghan population, particularly women.
The French government has not disclosed how many people could be deported, but a source familiar with the matter told AFP the number could reach hundreds.
France is now among about 20 European Union countries seeking to accelerate returns of Afghans living illegally in Europe, especially those convicted of offences. Germany, Belgium and Sweden have also opened communication channels with the Taliban for the same purpose.
Germany has gone further than most EU states, allowing Taliban-appointed diplomats to work at Afghanistan missions in Berlin and other cities to process return paperwork and operating multiple charter flights to Kabul. Berlin has deported more than 200 Afghan men in recent years, including some without criminal records.
The engagement and returns have drawn criticism from non-governmental organizations, some EU lawmakers and refugee rights activists, who argue Afghanistan remains unsafe for forced returns and that engagement risks legitimizing the Taliban.
“We are firmly opposed to any deportation to Afghanistan,” Timmo Scherenberg, director of the Refugee Council in the German state of Hesse, told RFI in late July. “We are talking about people who fled the Islamist regime to come to Germany. And, in our view, negotiating with the Taliban is out of the question, because if we consider the Taliban a terrorist regime, then we should not cooperate with them.”
Since seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban have imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic law that bars women and girls from education, most employment and public spaces, measures that UN experts, rights groups and activists say amount to crimes against humanity.
On Thursday, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said at least 52 women and one girl were arrested or detained in Kabul and Herat between July and September, with other women threatened with arrest. UNAMA also reported verbal abuse, beatings and threats against women, including female shopkeepers.
