Taliban to send envoys to Germany to work on deportations

BERLIN: The German government said Monday that Afghanistan’s Taliban administration will send two envoys to Germany to help with deportations, days after 81 convicted Afghans were sent back to their homeland.

The flight on Friday was the second from Germany since expulsions to Afghanistan were resumed last year.

Germany does not recognise the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan but does have “technical contacts” on the deportations, which have been facilitated by Qatar.

Government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said that during the exchanges “it has been agreed that two representatives of the Afghan administration will be incorporated” into Afghanistan’s missions in Germany.

According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) daily, the two envoys will work at the Afghan embassy in Berlin and at the country’s consulate in the western city of Bonn.

The Taliban authorities demanded this step in return for making last Friday’s flight possible, the paper reported.

The FAZ said that the names of the envoys had been sent to Berlin and that they had  already worked in consular services and were not considered extremists.

Germany stopped deportations to Afghanistan and closed its embassy in Kabul following the Taliban movement’s return to power in 2021.

However last year the last German government resumed expulsions with a flight in August carrying 28 Afghans.

Current chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to continue deportations, having made a tougher line on immigration a key campaign theme in February’s general election.

Kornelius said that further flights were in the offing.

“The government has committed to systematic expulsions of those convicted of crimes and this will not be accomplished with just one flight,” he said.