Merz government's Taliban deal alarms Afghan dissidents sheltering in Germany
Germany's government has struck a deal allowing Taliban-appointed officials to work in its diplomatic missions in exchange for cooperation on deportations. Afghan activists who fled Taliban persecution now fear renewed exposure to their former oppressors while living in Germany.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government first reached an agreement with Afghanistan's rulers last October, giving Taliban officials control of diplomatic missions in Berlin and Bonn in exchange for permission to deport Afghan migrants directly back to Afghanistan. This summer, the cooperation deepened further: a new deal allows more Taliban officials to work in Germany in return for additional deportation flights, now up to three per month. The expanded arrangement covers not just Afghan men convicted of crimes but more broadly those without protected status or legal residence rights.
Germany has become the first EU country to let Taliban-appointed officials staff diplomatic posts on its soil. The move comes as Merz's government faces low approval ratings and a surge in support for the anti-immigration AfD party, now polling as Germany's most popular political force ahead of two state elections in the former East Germany. Berlin insists the cooperation is a technical necessity rather than an endorsement of the regime.
Fear of persecution
Afghan rights activists warn the deal endangers roughly 35,000 Afghans who came to Germany under humanitarian programs for people deemed especially vulnerable to the Taliban, including human rights defenders and former workers for the German military. To renew their humanitarian visas, many must obtain new Afghan passports through Taliban-run missions, forcing direct contact with the same authorities they fled. Activists also worry the Taliban's growing presence could give them access to personal data held by German missions, raising the risk of blackmail.
Zarmina Paryani, a former Kabul midwife who was imprisoned twice with her sisters for protesting the Taliban, said she now feels forced to have her fate decided by representatives of the same regime that persecuted her. Green party lawmaker Schahina Gambir said the German government has made itself vulnerable to blackmail by granting the Taliban embassy access and immunity. In May, Kabul abruptly halted a deportation flight, apparently to extract further concessions, shortly before Berlin announced the expanded agreement.
