The UK could seek talks with the Taliban to send failed asylum seekers back to Afghanistan for the first time since the fall of Kabul, the home secretary has signalled.
Shabana Mahmood said the UK was “monitoring very closely” what other countries were planning to do amid reports that European nations are planning to explore talks with the Taliban about possible deportations.
Afghans were the most common nationality arriving by small boat to the UK in the year ending June 2025, with the number of arrivals at 6,360, 18 per cent higher than the previous year.
The UK government does not recognise the Taliban administration, which is a barrier to sending back those not granted refugee status.
But speaking to reporters, Ms Mahmood said: “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.”
Such a move – which would be an active reversal of current policy – would spark outrage from humanitarian groups.
Just last month, the United Nations warned Afghanistan was a “graveyard for human rights” that enforces “gender apartheid” using torture and corporal punishment, with women and girls over aged 11 excluded from formal education and banned from most paid employment.
