Concerns are escalating within Germany over ongoing discussions between the German government and the Taliban regime regarding the repatriation of Afghan nationals with criminal records. Several opposition parties have voiced strong objections, citing fundamental ethical and human rights concerns.
The Green Party has been particularly vocal, with interior policy spokesperson Schahina Gambir stating that the government appears to have abandoned all moral compass in pursuing these talks. Gambir emphasized the instability and dangers inherent in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, asserting that repatriation would violate fundamental human rights principles and normalize the regime’s systematic human rights abuses, including the denial of rights to women and girls, the practice of torture and public corporal punishment.
Left Party parliamentarian Cansu Özdemir echoed these sentiments, describing the prospect of deportations as scandalous. She emphasized that negotiations with the Taliban should be unequivocally off the table, noting the severe penalties individuals deported to Afghanistan risk facing, particularly regarding the dire situation of women and girls. Özdemir characterized the discussions as right-wing political symbolism exploiting vulnerable people.
Earlier criticism also emerged from within the Social Democratic Party (SPD). SPD parliamentary spokesperson Adis Ahmetovic expressed strong disapproval of the planned negotiations, arguing that dialogue with a group systematically denying education, employment and freedom to women and girls, engaging in public violence and persecuting dissidents is currently unviable given the ongoing human rights situation.