A delegation from around twenty EU Member States visited Kabul last week as part of an “administrative mission” to discuss the repatriation of Afghan migrants with the Taliban regime, according to the European Commission on Monday 26 January, confirming the comments made by the Belgian Minister for Asylum and Migration, Anneleen van Bossuyt, two days earlier.
Speaking to the press, she said that following the discussions, the Taliban authorities had said they were “ready to participate in the identification of irregular migrants”.
The purpose of the trip was to “relaunch technical cooperation with Afghanistan”, a project that the Commission has been promoting for several months (see EUROPE 13775/6). However, the Belgian minister denied any “affinity with the Afghan regime”, stressing the need for “administrative cooperation” with the Taliban to address migration concerns.
The subject was also at the heart of discussions during the informal meeting devoted to Home Affairs on Thursday 22 January in Nicosia (see EUROPE 13792/16). Speaking to the press ahead of the debate, Ms van Bossuyt stressed the importance of this issue, pointing out that 20 Member States, including Belgium, had signed a letter addressed to Magnus Brunner, European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, calling for “European solutions for the return to Afghanistan” (see EUROPE 13734/17).
The Swedish minister, Johan Forssell, also called before a small group of journalists for “an action plan on Afghanistan”, prioritising “cases of people who have committed crimes” and advocating technical cooperation between Member States. (Original version in French by Justine Manaud)