Afghan residents in Germany protest acceptance of Taliban representatives: “Taliban is not our representative”

BERLIN: A group of Afghan citizens residing in Germany held a protest rally yesterday in front of the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to international news reports, the protesters chanted “Taliban is not our representative” in opposition to the acceptance of two representatives from the group at the Afghan embassy in Berlin and the consulate in Bonn. They described the delegation of Afghanistan’s political representation to the Taliban as “betrayal” and called for an end to the German government’s engagement with the group. The protesters also strongly criticized the German government’s decision to deport migrants back to Afghanistan, equating it to issuing a “death sentence” for returnees. Recently, the German government accepted two Taliban representatives at Afghanistan’s diplomatic missions in the country, a move reportedly aimed at facilitating the process of returning “criminal migrants” to Afghanistan. Reports indicate that Germany previously deported 81 migrants to Afghanistan in coordination with the Taliban.