The German government said Monday that two new envoys had been sent by Afghanistan’s Taliban administration to help coordinate deportations, days after 81 convicted Afghans were sent back to their homeland.
The flight on Friday was the second from Germany since expulsions to Afghanistan resumed last year.
Germany does not recognise the Taliban leaders in Afghanistan but does have “technical contacts” on the deportations, which have been facilitated by Qatar.
Government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said that during the exchanges “it has been agreed that two representatives of the Afghan administration will be incorporated” into Afghanistan’s missions in Germany.
A foreign ministry source later confirmed to AFP that the two envoys had arrived in Germany over the weekend.
“They are currently going through the normal registration process before they begin their work,” the source said.
According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) daily, the two envoys will work at the Afghan embassy in Berlin and at the country’s consulate in the western city of Bonn.
The Taliban authorities demanded this step in return for making last Friday’s flight possible, the paper reported.
The FAZ said that the envoys had already worked in consular services and were not considered extremists.
Germany stopped deportations to Afghanistan and closed its embassy in Kabul following the Taliban movement’s return to power in 2021.
However last year the last German government resumed expulsions with a flight in August carrying 28 Afghans.
Current chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to continue deportations, having made a tougher line on immigration a key campaign theme in February’s general election.
Kornelius said that further flights were in the offing.
“The government has committed to systematic expulsions of those convicted of crimes and this will not be accomplished with just one flight,” he said.
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© Agence France-Presse
