Germany has authorised a team of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) representatives to temporarily enter the country to help coordinate the deportation of Afghan nationals, the German government said Monday.

A German Foreign Ministry spokesman told a press conference in Berlin that the government had approved the short-term entry of a “technical support team” with the aim of increasing the number of deportations to Afghanistan.

“It is in our interest that Afghan representations are able to provide consular services for the roughly 450,000 Afghan nationals in Germany and contribute in particular to return operations,” the spokesman said.

He said the representatives had undergone security checks, were not accredited as diplomats in Germany and would leave the country after a short stay.

Germany has tightened its migration policies under conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz following years of accepting large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers. The government has said deportations to Afghanistan would primarily target convicted criminals.

However, Germany deported 23 Afghan men to Afghanistan last week, including some who had not been convicted of a crime, according to reports.

Human rights organisations have strongly criticised deportations to Afghanistan, citing concerns over the human rights situation and alleged abuses under the IEA.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called for the acceleration of the planned Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan railway, saying the project could significantly strengthen connectivity between Central and South Asia and provide Uzbekistan with access to Pakistan’s seaports.

Sharif made the remarks during a meeting with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek.

The two leaders agreed to accelerate the implementation of agreements covering trade, investment and regional connectivity, while reaffirming their target of increasing bilateral trade between Pakistan and Uzbekistan to $2 billion by 2029.

The proposed railway, known as the Trans-Afghan Railway, would run through Afghanistan, connecting Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries with Pakistan and international markets through the country’s seaports.

Sharif said the project could transform regional connectivity and facilitate Uzbekistan’s access to global markets through Pakistan’s ports.

Pakistan and Uzbekistan have made regional connectivity a key element of their strategic partnership, with the railway viewed as an important project for expanding trade, investment and economic cooperation.

The project would require continued coordination between Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. If completed, the railway could strengthen Afghanistan’s position as a major transit route between Central and South Asia and provide the country with new opportunities for transit revenues and regional trade.

The Trans-Afghan Railway has been under discussion for several years as a proposed 760-kilometre rail link from Termez in Uzbekistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan’s railway network. The project is intended to provide Central Asian states with a shorter route to the Arabian Sea and international markets, while opening new trade and transit opportunities for Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has slipped down the international agenda despite the “extreme needs” of its people, a senior International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) official said, urging the international community not to abandon Afghan communities.

ICRC Director of Operations Yasmine Praz Dessimoz told AFP in an interview in Kabul that Afghans were “struggling to survive with significant humanitarian needs” as the country’s health system continues to face severe pressure.

The United Nations children’s agency UNICEF warned last week that one million Afghan children are facing life-threatening malnutrition, while 3.7 million are suffering from acute malnutrition.

The UN has also said that a decline in international aid has forced the closure of about 100 clinics providing treatment for malnourished children across Afghanistan.

Afghanistan remains among the ICRC’s five largest operations worldwide, but funding cuts have forced the organisation to make difficult decisions about its activities, Praz Dessimoz said.

“Afghan people need national and international support,” she added.

The ICRC supports 46 clinics and seven rehabilitation centres across Afghanistan, providing healthcare and rehabilitation services, including for people wounded in conflict or injured by unexploded ordnance.

The organisation has also made communities along the Durand Line a priority, focusing on people affected by conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The ICRC says its ability to engage with parties on both sides allows it to provide support to communities along the frontier.

Fighting between Afghanistan and Pakistan intensified last October and continued into the spring, displacing thousands of people in Afghanistan and leaving hundreds of civilians dead or wounded.

Praz Dessimoz also raised concerns about restrictions imposed on women by Islamic Emirate authorities, including restrictions on education beyond primary school and access to certain professions.

“We could keep our female staff in our health support,” she said, but warned about the longer-term consequences if girls and women are prevented from receiving education.

“The major concern is what is next? Because if the new generation is not educated, then there won’t be any replacement,” she said.

She stressed the importance of women health workers in providing healthcare to women, saying they are needed “in order then to deliver (care) and to be close to a woman”.

During her week-long visit to Afghanistan, Praz Dessimoz met Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi and Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

“What is important is to be able to engage, to be able to have a dialogue with them,” she told AFP.

The Islamic Emirate government returned to power in August 2021 and remains internationally isolated, with Russia the only country to have formally recognised it as Afghanistan’s government.