BRUSSELS:- Belgium on Monday issued five visas to a Taliban delegation to attend a European Union meeting on migration in Brussels, the first time the European Union has welcomed a Taliban delegation since the Islamist extremists returned to power five years ago.
Regarding the invitation to the Taliban delegation, a Belgian Foreign Ministry spokesperson issued a statement saying, “These are visas with limited territorial validity and limited duration: only for Belgium … and only for one day, the exact date of the visit will not be communicated for security reasons.”
The meeting is expected to focus on ways to deport some Afghan migrants, with human rights groups warning that such involvement could put Afghans at risk and undermine core European Union values.
According to a letter seen by Reuters and addressed to Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahir Balkhi, it will focus on the “return and resettlement of Afghan citizens without the right to reside in the European Union.”
The EU’s executive, the European Commission, said the meeting was technical and did not legitimize the Taliban regime.
Since returning to power, the Taliban have steadily curtailed rights, restricting women’s freedom of movement, banning girls from education beyond primary school, and imposing morality laws that limit freedom of expression and access to employment.