Afghanistan’s de facto Taliban authorities have temporarily sent additional staff to diplomatic missions in Germany under an agreement with the government in Berlin, in a move intended to facilitate plans to increase the deportation of hundreds of Afghans.
To meet the coalition government’s target for “returns”, documents recognised by the de facto Afghan authorities must be issued, Germany’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
The ministry said sufficient staffing and certain “technical requirements” were needed to increase the number of people being returned to Afghanistan.
To ensure those requirements could be met, Germany allowed a “technical support team” to enter the country on a temporary basis, it said.
Deportations so far have involved men only
According to Germany’s Interior Ministry, 228 men have been deported to Afghanistan since the beginning of the current parliamentary term in March 2025. Most had been convicted in criminal cases.
The latest deportation flight, carrying 23 people who had been ordered to leave Germany, departed from Leipzig for Kabul on Tuesday.
To facilitate the process, the German government approved the temporary deployment of Taliban representatives to Afghan diplomatic missions in Germany.
Until now, those missions had been staffed exclusively by diplomats appointed by Afghanistan’s previous, Western-backed government, which was overthrown by the Taliban in August 2021.
Earlier deportation plan cancelled
In early June, a planned mass deportation of Afghan nationals was cancelled after the Taliban refused to cooperate.
The de facto authorities had expressed dissatisfaction over what they considered a lack of willingness on the part of Germany’s Foreign Ministry to engage in dialogue.
Germany does not recognise the Taliban government in Kabul.
Critics of the German government, particularly politicians from the Greens, have repeatedly accused Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government of making concessions to secure cooperation on deportations.
They argue that Berlin’s decision is particularly controversial given that Germany does not formally recognise the Taliban authorities, partly because of the extensive human rights abuses attributed to the regime, particularly against women and girls.
The temporary deployment marks a further step in Germany’s efforts to increase deportations to Afghanistan while maintaining its position that the Taliban authorities are not formally recognised as Afghanistan’s legitimate government.
