Belgium Grants One-Day Visas to Taliban for EU Asylum Talks

Belgium has issued five one-day visas to a Taliban delegation to travel to Brussels for European Union negotiations on returning Afghan asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected, in a move that has ignited a fierce debate over the ethics of engaging with a regime accused of systematic human rights abuses.

The visas, confirmed by Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot on 22 June, were granted after security assessments by Belgian State Security (Staatsveiligheid) and the military intelligence service ADIV found no evidence that the delegation members posed a security threat. The visas are valid only for Belgium — not the broader Schengen Area — and for a single day, with the exact date of the visit withheld for security reasons, according to VRT NWS. Multiple sources indicate the talks took place on Tuesday, 23 June, with the delegation reportedly flying in and out via Turkey.

A Legal Obligation, Not a Choice

The delegation was invited by the European Commission for what officials describe as “technical talks” on migration — specifically, the return of Afghan nationals who have no legal right to stay in the EU, particularly those convicted of serious crimes or deemed security threats. This marks the first time the EU has hosted a Taliban delegation since the group returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021.

Foreign Minister Prévot publicly stated his personal opposition to the visit but argued that Belgium had no choice under its obligations as host country to EU institutions. “Personally, I disapprove of the move to invite representatives of the Taliban regime to Brussels,” Prévot told Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, as reported by The Brussels Times. “As the host country of institutions such as the European Union, Belgium cannot refuse invitations from those institutions to representatives of regimes that it does not itself recognize.”

European Commission Spokesperson Markus Lammert defended the outreach, stating that the focus is on “persons who have committed serious crimes or who pose a security threat,” according to France 24. The Commission has emphasized that the technical discussions do not constitute formal recognition of the Taliban administration.

Rights Groups Cry Foul

Human rights organizations have condemned the meeting in the strongest terms. Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan Researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: “Any engagement with the Taliban needs to prioritise protecting human rights and accountability — not deporting people to danger there.” She added that EU countries are “undermining their credibility by condemning Taliban abuses and pursuing accountability on one hand, while cooperating with the Taliban to forcibly return Afghans on the other.”

Amnesty International’s Director of the European Institutions Office, Eve Geddie, described the situation as unconscionable. “The desperate scenes of people — including EU staff — fleeing Afghanistan are a recent memory,” she said, as reported by Al Jazeera. “It is unconscionable that the EU would now try and deport people to Afghanistan, which has only become more dangerous in the meantime.”

Alexis Deswaef, President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), warned that the visit provides legitimacy to a regime responsible for grave violations. “Inviting the Taliban for talks on EU soil provides a form of political legitimacy to an undemocratic regime that is responsible for gender-based persecution and other grave human rights violations under international law,” he said, as reported by InfoMigrants. FIDH submitted a criminal complaint to the Belgian Federal Prosecutor on 16 June concerning the planned visit.

A Broader European Shift

The Brussels meeting is part of a wider European trend toward stricter migration enforcement. Around 20 of the EU’s 27 member states have expressed interest in returning migrants without a right to stay to Afghanistan, particularly those with criminal convictions. EU countries received approximately one million asylum applications from Afghans between 2013 and 2024, according to the bloc’s migration agency. While Afghans have historically had among the highest asylum recognition rates in the EU, acceptance has tightened as migration policies have become more restrictive.

Germany has reportedly held secret meetings with Taliban representatives about deportations, as revealed by an investigation by ZDF Magazin Royale in April 2026. EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner has defended the outreach, saying Brussels has “no other option” than to talk to the Taliban government about returning irregular migrants.

The Legitimacy Question

The core tension lies between Belgium’s legal obligations as host to EU institutions and the profound ethical concerns about engaging with a regime the International Criminal Court has accused of crimes against humanity. In 2025, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani for murder, imprisonment, torture, rape, and enforced disappearance.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan remains in the grip of a severe humanitarian crisis. According to the United Nations World Food Programme, more than 17 million Afghans — one-third of the population — are “food insecure,” while the country absorbs tens of thousands of returnees from Iran and Pakistan.

What to Watch

The outcome of the 23 June talks remains unclear, but the implications are far-reaching. If the EU proceeds with deportations to Afghanistan, it would test the limits of international refugee law, particularly the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning people to places where they face serious harm. The identities of the five Taliban delegates have not been disclosed, and questions remain about whether this engagement will set a precedent for other EU member states to deal directly with the Taliban — and at what cost to the bloc’s stated commitment to human rights.