German urgency to curb immigration has become an opportunity for the Taliban

The debate over the deportation of foreign criminals is putting pressure on Berlin and increasing the bargaining power of the Afghan government, which is increasing its influence over the network of consulates in Germany. At the end of July, the Taliban publicly announced that it only recognizes five Afghan diplomatic representations in Europe as legitimate: the embassies in Spain, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands, as well as a consulate in Munich.

According to Zabihullah Mujahid, the regime’s spokesman in Kabul, these representations “follow Afghan guidelines,” are trustworthy and operate in a “transparent” manner. “They fulfill their duties and carry out our orders,” Mujahid told DW.

There is a context for this distinction. Most Afghan diplomatic missions in Europe distanced themselves from the Taliban after the Islamists took power in August 2021. They no longer receive funding from Kabul and no longer submit reports.

Yet for the past three years the Taliban have not objected to the work of these agencies and have allowed them to continue issuing visas, passports and other documents to the estimated 420,000 Afghans living in Germany.

That changed at the end of July. Since then, the embassy in Berlin and the consulate in Bonn have been virtually paralyzed – both refuse to cooperate with the Taliban. And since Kabul no longer recognizes the documents issued by these embassies, they have lost their largest source of income, leaving their diplomatic status even more uncertain. As a result, revenues at the consulate in Munich have increased.

Neither the ambassador in Berlin nor the consul in Munich agreed to speak to reporters.

Germany reacted with “pragmatism”

About a week after the Taliban’s decision, the German Foreign Ministry responded with a “formal statement” addressed to the “interim Foreign Ministry” in Kabul. DW has seen the document. In it, the German ministry accepts that the consulate in Munich will take over the provision of services for the entire country.

The German Foreign Ministry has so far spoken of “technical talks” with the de facto Afghan government.

“Under international law, the German government does not have many options,” says Winfried Kluth, a legal expert at the University of Halle-Wittenberg. He believes that the fact that Germany is not protesting the Taliban’s decision to invalidate other diplomatic representations is a sign of “political pragmatism,” since without the collaboration of the regime in Kabul, the deportation becomes much more complicated.

“Germany’s interest is that there is still a consulate where certain things can be done, such as issuing visas or passports for deportations,” explains Kluth.

In its letter to Kabul, the German Foreign Ministry only objects to the Taliban’s plan for Munich to be able to serve Afghans not only from Germany but also from all over Europe – something that, according to the ministry, would violate the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Berlin’s objection, however, is merely symbolic, since no one can control whether Afghans who come to the consulate in Munich come from Germany or from abroad.

In a diplomatic tone, the letter also signals that Berlin is open to discussing solutions: “The Federal Republic of Germany is willing to consider ways to ensure the satisfactory provision of consular services for Afghan citizens living in Germany.”

Distressed diaspora

The new situation is distressing the Afghan community. “Many of those living in the diaspora still have family in Afghanistan,” says Patoni Teichmann, an Afghan social activist. “If the Taliban have access to personal information from embassies, they can put pressure on people more easily.”

For Alema Alema, a former deputy minister for refugee affairs and women’s rights activist, the risk is that the Taliban will make accepting deportees conditional on obtaining an embassy.

The Taliban may indeed soon try to send its own diplomatic representatives to Germany. That would put pressure on Berlin just as the government seeks to increase deportations to Afghanistan.

The German Foreign Ministry told DW that relations with Afghanistan will not be “normalized” until the country fulfills its international obligations and, “including and above all,” respects human rights. “So far, these conditions have not been met,” the ministry said.

“Technical talks” or steps towards standardization?

The fact that Berlin is holding “technical talks” with the government in Kabul has been increasingly mentioned publicly.

Since the German embassy in Afghanistan was closed following the Taliban takeover in August 2021, Germany no longer has an ambassador accredited to the country. As a Foreign Ministry spokesman explained at a press conference, diplomatic dialogue is now mainly conducted through the ministry’s office in Doha, Qatar, with Taliban representatives based there.

For major political demands, such as the deportation of Afghan criminals directly from Leipzig to Kabul at the end of August – the first under the Taliban – the German government says it has not resorted to “technical talks” but rather to the help of mediating countries such as Qatar.

This explanation, however, makes it even more surprising that the Foreign Ministry’s letter to the Taliban was sent on headed paper and stamped by the “Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kabul”, which appears as the sender – a “grey area” and possibly a “maneuver”, in the opinion of the legal expert Kluth.

Since the German embassy in Kabul remains officially closed, this is a situation that “contradicts the legal facts,” Kluth continues. “It is difficult to find out what the author of the letter had in mind,” he says.

The German Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the case.

The fact that technical talks are taking place is interpreted by the Taliban as “an important step towards diplomatic recognition,” says Thomas Ruttig, an Afghanistan expert. “The German side will try to play this down, but given the current discussions about deportations to Afghanistan, there is naturally an interest,” he says.

The Afghan community in Germany plans to protest in Berlin against new rules imposed by the Taliban. The first demonstration, which was supposed to take place in early September, was not authorized by the police. The activists will try again on a new date.