Afghan women eligible for asylum, European Court of Justice rules

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that Afghan women can be granted asylum based solely on gender and nationality. The court emphasized that these factors are enough to qualify them for asylum due to the widespread discrimination and oppression they face in Afghanistan.

In its ruling, the ECJ stated that the Taliban’s discriminatory policies toward women amount to persecution. These actions justify recognizing Afghan women as refugees, further strengthening the legal basis for their protection in European countries.

On Friday, 4th October, the European Court of Justice in Brussels, while examining the cases of two Afghan women whose asylum applications were rejected by the Austrian Immigration Office in 2015 and 2020, declared that Afghan women need not prove persecution in their country of origin to have their asylum applications accepted.

The court concluded that merely being a woman is enough to justify accepting the asylum application. This sets a precedent for Afghan women seeking refuge across Europe.

Reuters reported that one of the women had lived illegally in Iran before arriving in Austria, where her drug-addicted father attempted to sell her to fund his addiction, highlighting the dangers Afghan women face.

European countries, under the Geneva Convention, do not deport asylum seekers who have been persecuted in their country of origin. Several European nations, including France, Sweden, and Denmark, have previously announced that Afghan women would be granted asylum based on their gender alone.

The situation in Afghanistan has become a grave violation of human rights, particularly for women. With the Taliban’s return to power, Afghan women have been systematically stripped of their rights, severely impacting their ability to live freely and safely.

Afghan women face a blanket ban on education and employment, further infringing on their fundamental rights. The right to work and receive an education, universally recognized as basic human rights, has been denied to Afghan women, pushing them into deeper isolation and poverty.

The restriction on women’s free movement within Afghanistan underscores a brutal crackdown on personal freedoms. These actions by the Taliban regime not only violate international human rights laws but also reflect a broader erosion of gender equality in the country.

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