The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Human Rights Watch has urged France to suspend plans to deport Afghans to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, warning that cooperation with the authorities in Kabul could expose people to persecution, torture and other serious human rights abuses.
France has confirmed that it has opened what it calls a
“technical dialogue” with the Taliban authorities on the return of Afghan
nationals who are in France illegally and are considered a national security
risk, according to the French Foreign Ministry.
Freshta Abbasi, Human Rights Watch Researcher said the discussions marked a dangerous
shift in French policy and warned that French officials had not provided
guarantees to protect Afghans who could face persecution if returned, including
women and girls.
The talks follow discussions on migration and returns
between a Taliban delegation and European Union officials in Brussels in June,
according to the rights group. Germany has also deported 263 Afghans since last
year, according to reporting cited by Human Rights Watch.
French officials have said the dialogue is narrowly focused
on facilitating the removal of Afghan nationals who are in the country
illegally and pose a security risk. Human Rights Watch argued that any return
process must account for the human rights situation in Afghanistan and the
risks faced by people sent back.
The Taliban returned to power in August 2021 and have since
imposed restrictions on women and girls, including barring them from secondary
education and universities and limiting their freedom of movement and
expression.
Human Rights Watch also cited evidence that Taliban forces
have detained and tortured people who were forcibly returned to Afghanistan.
The organization said cooperation on deportations would take place despite what
it described as widespread and systematic abuses by the Taliban authorities.
Earlier this month, the International Criminal Court
announced that arrest warrants had been unsealed for Taliban supreme leader
Haibatullah Akhundzada and three other senior officials over alleged crimes
against humanity involving persecution on gender and political grounds. The
warrants, issued in 2025, concern the persecution of women and girls, people
who do not conform to the Taliban’s gender expectations, and people viewed as
supporting the rights of women and girls, according to Human Rights Watch.
The rights group called on France to suspend any deportation
plans and said cooperation with the Taliban on migration should not result in
people being returned to a country where they face a real risk of persecution
or other serious harm.
France’s confirmation of the talks does not, by itself,
establish that deportations to Afghanistan have been agreed upon or that a
return arrangement has been finalized.
