Echoes of 2015 as EU grapples with Afghan migration, security challenges

FILE PHOTO: An Afghan woman and her month-old son are seen outside the new temporary camp for migrants and refugees, on the island of Lesbos, Greece, September 21, 2020. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -European Union countries on Tuesday said they would step up aid to Afghanistan and its neighbours but could not agree a common policy on accepting asylum-seekers fleeing Taliban rule.

Western nations involved in the fight against the Taliban have airlifted 100,000 people who supported them, and would take them in, along with others who failed to get onto the last evacuation flights. Chancellor Angela Merkel said this group included up to 40,000 people with the right to German residency.