Four Taliban officials have traveled to Geneva in recent days to help identify Afghans convicted of crimes in Switzerland, a move the Swiss government acknowledged as a sensitive but necessary step to enable deportations, Swiss public broadcaster SRF reported.
The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) said the delegation’s mission was to confirm the identities of Afghan nationals facing expulsion, so that Kabul could issue travel documents required for their return.
“We all know that human rights are not respected in Afghanistan — that made the matter somewhat delicate,” SEM spokesperson Daniel Bach said. “On the other hand, there is the public interest in Switzerland to protect the population from convicted offenders. We found that the protection of the population outweighs.”
According to the report, Swiss Justice Minister Beat Jans decided last year that Afghan nationals convicted of crimes and given judicial expulsion orders should be deported once they complete their prison terms. Switzerland carried out five such deportations by the end of 2023.
But since then, the Taliban administration has changed its procedures, requiring that only documents issued in Kabul — not by the Afghan Embassy in Bern — be accepted. SEM currently hopes to deport around 20 Afghan offenders, which made the visit by the Kabul delegation necessary.
According to SEM, the Taliban officials identified 11 convicted criminals and two voluntary returnees during their two-day visit, all conducted inside Geneva Airport. “They did not leave the airport during their stay,” Bach said.
The delegation confirmed the identities of a majority of the 13 Afghans. Preparations for their deportations will now move forward, while additional checks are needed for the others, the report said.
Other European countries have also resumed limited deportations to Afghanistan. In July, Germany agreed to allow two Taliban officials to be stationed there to support deportation flights. Switzerland, however, said it has no plans to grant such accreditation to Taliban representatives.
Beyond criminal cases, Switzerland in April broadened its policy to permit deportations of rejected Afghan asylum seekers under certain conditions. The change applies to healthy, adult men who are single and have a viable support network in Afghanistan.
Since then, SEM has ordered the deportation of about 20 Afghan men, with two cases finalized. The others have appealed to the Federal Administrative Court, whose rulings are expected to set precedent.
