France confirms talks with the Taliban on deporting Afghans

France's interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, has confirmed that his government is holding talks with Afghanistan's Taliban authorities so that it can deport Afghans who are in France without legal status. "We are trying to obtain the possibility of returning a certain number of Afghans in an irregular situation. These are technical discussions," Nuñez told a National Assembly hearing on Monday, according to AFP reporting carried by Le Dauphiné Libéré.

It was the first time a minister had confirmed on the record what AFP first reported in early October, citing a diplomatic source. France has had no diplomatic relations with the Taliban since they returned to power in August 2021, and its embassy in Kabul is closed.

The confirmation drew an immediate challenge from the Ecologist deputy who had asked the question. She said the talks amounted to the start of normalizing relations with a government that the International Criminal Court accuses of crimes against humanity against women and girls. The government's position is that the contacts are technical, limited to removals, and do not change France's stance on Afghanistan.

This article sets out what Nuñez said, what is known about the talks, how Germany has handled the same question, and the human rights record that critics cite. Quotations from French- and German-language sources are 567politics translations.

What Nuñez said

Nuñez was answering Léa Balage El Mariky, an Ecologist member of the Assembly, during a hearing on Monday, November 2. According to the AFP account published by 20 Minutes and Le Dauphiné, he made three points.

First, he confirmed the talks: "We are trying to obtain the possibility of returning a certain number of Afghans in an irregular situation. These are technical discussions."

Second, he pointed to other European governments: "There are other countries that do it. Germany does it."

Third, he said who the government has in mind: "A certain number of them may constitute threats to public order, so it is also my priority to make sure we can return these people."

Nuñez serves in the government of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu. He did not say how many people could be affected, when removals might start, or whether Taliban officials would travel to France.

The criticism in the Assembly

Balage El Mariky accused the government of "a beginning of normalization of diplomatic relations with a regime that is committing a crime against humanity" by practicing "gender apartheid," according to 20 Minutes and Le Dauphiné.

The AFP accounts of the hearing did not report reactions from other parties, and 567politics did not find other party statements on the record by publication time. For the wider party landscape ahead of next year's presidential election, see our France country guide.

What was already known

AFP first reported the talks on October 7. A diplomatic source told the agency: "Like other European countries, a technical dialog has been initiated with the Taliban in order to facilitate the direct removal to Afghanistan of Afghan nationals in an irregular situation who represent a threat to public order." The source said the discussions "do not call into question" France's position on Afghanistan and that "the concrete arrangements are being studied."

The diplomatic source declined to say how many Afghans could be affected. A second source familiar with the file told AFP that "hundreds" of people could be targeted. The foreign ministry did not answer AFP's question about whether Taliban representatives might come to France to help with removals.

According to that report, the people concerned are Afghans under an OQTF, the French order to leave the country. France says it continues to support the Afghan population, especially women, through humanitarian aid routed via aid groups and UN agencies, and that it still grants asylum to Afghans under threat.

In June 2025, Didier Leschi, director general of the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII), wrote that France had become "one of the main host countries for Afghan refugees" since 2015. "With more than 100,000 Afghans present in 2024, this migration has become a massive, recent phenomenon, unexpected in its scale," he wrote, as quoted by AFP.

The European context

France is one of about 20 European Union countries, alongside Germany, Belgium and Sweden, that favor speeding up the return of Afghans without legal status, especially those convicted of trafficking or violent crimes, AFP reported. The EU does not officially recognize the Taliban government, which is seeking a larger international presence.

In June, a meeting in Brussels between European officials and Taliban representatives drew heavy criticism from human rights organizations and left-wing members of the European Parliament, who objected to any contact with the Taliban authorities, according to AFP.

How Germany handles it

Germany, which Nuñez cited, has gone further in public. On August 31, the German Foreign Office confirmed that a team linked to the Taliban government had been allowed into the country. The broadcaster NDR had reported that a three-person delegation held meetings in Berlin, Bonn and Munich and visited Afghan consulates.

At the federal government press conference that day, Foreign Office spokesman Giese said it was in Germany's interest that Afghan missions could provide consular services for the "around 450,000 Afghan nationals in Germany" and "in particular contribute to returns." He said Berlin had agreed to "the short-term entry of a technical support team," and stressed: "These are not diplomats accredited in Germany." He said the team's work was to make sure equipment worked so that, for example, labels could be printed in passports. Members had passed a particularly strict security check and received short-term visas valid only for Germany.

Asked how the government justified working with the Taliban on deportations, Giese said: "It is the clear goal of the federal government to increase the number of deportations to Afghanistan. We are working on that." Government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said cooperation on deportations was limited to the technical means of carrying them out.

Germany's interior ministry is led by Alexander Dobrindt of the CSU. For background on the governing coalition in Berlin, see our Germany country guide.

The human rights record critics cite

The Ecologists' objection rests on the Taliban's treatment of women and girls, which UN officials and the International Criminal Court have described in stark terms.

On September 9, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said the situation in Afghanistan was "going from bad to worse," according to UN News. "It seems the world has forgotten and abandoned the people of Afghanistan to a plight deepening by the day," he said. "The silence is deafening." He said restrictions on women and girls "amount to gender apartheid" and condemned "the absolute absence of women in any public decision-making fora."

Türk also addressed deportations. The UN refugee agency says more than 400,000 Afghans have been forcibly returned, mainly from Iran and Pakistan but also from Türkiye, Tajikistan and EU member states. "Many are forced to enter a country where they have never even stepped foot, and where they will face deep poverty, and inadequate food, clean water, and access to healthcare, education and employment," he said. "I implore all States to reconsider their actions, and to put the lives of the suffering population first." The UN estimates 21.9 million people, about 45 percent of the population, need humanitarian aid.

UN News reported that at least 449 men and women were subjected to corporal punishment by the Taliban authorities in the first half of the year. It said both women and men are being arrested by the Office for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, mainly over dress codes, beard length and music. New decrees issued this year make it harder for a woman to separate from a spouse and implicitly authorize child marriage, according to the UN.

Afghan girls are barred from school after the age of 12, and women are excluded from many jobs and most public places, AFP reported. UNESCO estimates some 2.4 million Afghan girls are deprived of secondary education.

On October 5, the ICC unsealed four arrest warrants in its Afghanistan investigation. They target the Taliban's supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, its chief justice, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, and two other officials, Habibullah Agha and Neda Mohammad Nadim. The judges found reasonable grounds to believe the four ordered, induced or solicited the crime against humanity of persecution "on gender grounds against girls, women and other persons non-conforming with the Taliban's policy on gender, gender identity or expression," and on political grounds against people seen as "allies of girls and women." The court said other people had been targeted because certain expressions of sexuality or gender identity were regarded as inconsistent with Taliban policy. The warrants against Akhundzada and Haqqani were first announced in July 2025.

1. Aug 2021Taliban return to power; France closes its Kabul embassy
2. Jul 2025ICC announces warrants for Akhundzada and Haqqani
3. Jun 2026EU officials meet Taliban representatives in Brussels
4. Aug 31, 2026Germany confirms a Taliban technical team was let in
5. Sep 9, 2026UN rights chief urges states to reconsider forced returns
6. Oct 5, 2026ICC unseals four warrants, including two new names
7. Oct 7, 2026AFP reports France has opened technical talks
8. Nov 2, 2026Nuñez confirms the talks in the National Assembly

Source: AFP via France 24, Auswärtiges Amt, ICC

Open questions

Several points remain unclear from the public record:

• How many people France intends to deport. A source told AFP "hundreds"; the government has given no figure.
• Whether removals would be limited to people convicted of crimes. Nuñez spoke of Afghans who "may constitute threats to public order," while the diplomatic source described the target group as Afghans in an irregular situation who represent such a threat.
• Whether France will follow Germany in admitting a Taliban technical team. The foreign ministry did not answer that question in October.
• How French courts will handle individual cases. Removal orders can be challenged before administrative judges.

Our methodology page explains how 567politics attributes wire reports and statements made in parliamentary hearings.

Differing perspectives

Should France negotiate with the Taliban to deport Afghans living in France illegally?

Each position is summarized as its supporters make it, with equal weight and in alphabetical order. A summary is not an endorsement; the evidence for each is weighed in the story above.

• No normalization with a gender-apartheid regime

  Who holds it: Ecologist deputy Léa Balage El Mariky

  Balage El Mariky argues the talks mark the beginning of normalizing diplomatic relations with a government that is committing a crime against humanity. She says the Taliban practice gender apartheid against women and girls, and that France should not open channels with such a regime. Left-wing members of the European Parliament and rights groups raised similar objections to an EU meeting with Taliban representatives in June.

  In their words: 20 Minutes (AFP) ↗

• States should reconsider forced returns

  Who holds it: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk

  Türk says the situation in Afghanistan is going from bad to worse while the world looks away. He says restrictions on women and girls amount to gender apartheid, that more than 400,000 Afghans have been forcibly returned, including from EU states, and that many face deep poverty and lack of basic services. He implores all states to reconsider their actions and put the suffering population first.

  In their words: UN News ↗

• Talk to deport people who threaten public order

  Who holds it: Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez and the French government

  Nuñez says France is seeking the ability to return a certain number of Afghans who are in the country illegally, through technical discussions with the Taliban authorities. He argues some of them may pose threats to public order, which makes removing them a priority. He notes that other European countries, including Germany, already do this, and a diplomatic source says the contacts do not change France's position on Afghanistan.

  In their words: Le Dauphiné Libéré (AFP) ↗

• Technical cooperation to raise deportations

  Who holds it: The German federal government and Foreign Office

  The German government says it is in its interest that Afghan missions can provide consular services and contribute to returns. It allowed a security-checked technical support team into the country on short-term visas and stresses they are not accredited diplomats. Its spokesman says the clear goal of the federal government is to increase the number of deportations to Afghanistan, with cooperation limited to the technical means.

  In their words: Auswärtiges Amt ↗