Shabana Mahmood has refused to rule out sending rejected Afghan asylum seekers back to the Taliban-controlled nation.
The residence secretary mentioned she is “monitoring very closely” talks between Kabul and EU nations a few returns programme for refused claimants. She additionally indicated that “additional conversations” about Afghan returns had been occurring inside Whitehall.
If a returns programme was introduced in it could be a reversal of UK present coverage, and would shock humanitarian teams.
The United Nations final month described Afghanistan as a “graveyard for human rights” that enforces “gender apartheid” utilizing torture and corporal punishment.
Women and girls aged over 11 are excluded from schooling and banned from most types of paid employment.
Under guidelines in place within the UK, the federal government is unable to return refused asylum seekers to Afghanistan as a result of the UK does not recognise the Taliban-led authorities.
Mahmood spoke out days after the Swedish authorities confirmed that it had facilitated talks between Kabul and Brussels over a returns deal which is because of happen inside weeks.
Asked by reporters in Dunkirk on Thursday if she could be open to holding comparable talks with the Taliban, Mahmood mentioned: “We’re monitoring very closely what is happening in terms of other countries, whether that’s European partners or others, and conversations they are having with other countries including Afghanistan.
“I’m not going to get into any additional discussions that are happening in government – we’ll have more to say about that in the future – but of course we monitor closely and we work with our partners in terms of the efforts that we all need to make collectively to try to get agreements.
“I’m not ruling it in or out. I’m not going to give a running commentary on additional conversations that are happening.”
The authorities is trying to drive down the variety of individuals arriving through small boats crossing the Channel.
Afghans had been the most typical nationality arriving by small boat within the 12 months ending June 2025, with the variety of Afghan arrivals at 6,360, 18% increased than the earlier 12 months.
Between 2022 and 2024, about 29,600 Afghan nationals claimed asylum within the UK.
Grant charges for Afghan asylum seekers have fallen sharply – from 99% in 2023 to 38% within the first half of 2025, after the next customary of proof for recognition as a refugee was launched in 2024.
Unless rejected Afghans go away voluntarily, they continue to be within the UK with none authorized standing.
Mahmood’s feedback observe two journeys by European representatives to Afghanistan for exploratory talks on potential deportations of Afghan males and ladies from the EU to their residence nation.
More than 20 EU nations are reportedly expressing an curiosity in starting returns to Kabul. An EU-Belgian mission to Kabul occurred in January. Germany has deported greater than 100 criminals back to Afghanistan since 2024.
Dr Madeleine Sumption, the director of the Migration Observatory on the University of Oxford, mentioned that if an individual has been refused asylum, the federal government has already taken the judgment that they will stay safely of their nation of origin and that returning them does not put them in danger.
“In practice, many countries do not return even refused asylum seekers to Afghanistan, although some others have been willing to do so, such as Germany,” she mentioned.
The UN report launched final month highlighted a dramatic worsening of circumstances for Afghans, however particularly ladies and women, within the six months to January.
Journalists have been arrested, tortured and murdered, ladies civil servants had been fired with out due course of, and the authorities have additionally shut magnificence salons, gyms and different communal areas.
Women are additionally prevented from strolling in public parks, travelling with no male chaperone, should cover themselves completely when leaving the house and are not allowed to be heard speaking in public.
Keir Starmer has made halving violence towards ladies and women within the UK inside a decade a central mission of his authorities.
Mahmood has ramped up hardline measures to make it troublesome for individuals hoping to say asylum after arriving in small boats.
She has launched a “one in, one out” deal to ship individuals arriving by small boat back to France in trade for somebody granted asylum. So far 551 have arrived, and 561 have been deported, a Home Office supply mentioned.
Those granted asylum face a 20-year, moderately than five-year, ready interval to use for everlasting settlement.
Last month, Mahmood introduced a ban on pupil visas for individuals from Afghanistan and three different nations after a surge in asylum claims from individuals “in country” after ending their research.
