Under far-right pressure, Merz signs deal with Taliban in shock for Afghan dissidents

Under pressure from the rise of far-right forces, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has expanded the ‘diplomats-for-deportees’ deal with the Taliban.

As the far-right, neo-Nazi AfD has become Germany’s most popular party by stoking anxiety over migration, Merz has come under pressure to deport more migrants. His focus has increasingly turned to Afghans, who make up the third-largest group seeking refuge in Germany after Syrians and Ukrainians.

Last year, Merz struck a deal with the Taliban under which Germany was permitted to deport Afghan men convicted of crimes in exchange for allowing Taliban officials to take over Afghanistan’s diplomatic missions in Berlin and Bonn. He has now expanded the arrangement to permit more Taliban officials to work at these missions in exchange for broadening deportations to include Afghan men who do not have protected status or a legal right to remain in the country.

The development has alarmed Afghans living in Germany, who fear that Taliban officials posted in the country could exert control over their lives in exile. They are concerned that Taliban officials could refuse to renew their passports, which they need to extend their humanitarian visas. Politico reported that around 35,000 Afghans in Germany are staying under humanitarian programmes requiring passport renewals.

Afghans in Germany live in fear of Taliban

Afghans in Germany fear that the Taliban, which is well known for persecuting its critics, could use databases held by diplomatic missions to track and harass dissidents. They also worry that relatives still living in Afghanistan could face harassment or be subjected to extortion.

A former teacher from Afghanistan told Politico that they were concerned about their safety given their background and opposition to extremism. They said German officials had advised them to renew their passport, but doing so would require them to appear before Taliban officials.

Zarmina Paryani, who fled to Germany several months after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, told Politico that “it’s hard to accept that my fate and my affairs are being discussed with the very same representatives whose oppression, prisons, whippings, and violence I fled from”.

“A Taliban member once wrote to me: ‘Just wait until our embassy in Germany reopens. Then we’ll find you there,’” Paryani said, recalling a comment posted under one of her social media posts about two years ago.

Paryani said she had dismissed the comment at the time because it seemed so unrealistic.

“Today, I feel as though that threat has become a reality,” she said.