ECJ: Afghan women have the right to asylum in the EU --[Reported by Umva mag]

Brussels/Kabul/Vienna – The critical situation of women in Afghanistan since the return of the Taliban is, according to a ruling by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg on Friday, sufficient reason to grant asylum to Afghan women. The Austrian Administrative Court (VwGH) asked the Luxembourg colleagues whether the poor, discriminatory treatment can be considered persecution that justifies recognition as a refugee.

Two women with Afghan nationality had approached the Administrative Court. The reason was the refusal of the Austrian authorities to grant them refugee status. According to the VwGH, the return of the Islamist Taliban regime to power in 2021 has serious implications for women’s fundamental rights in the central Asian country. The discrimination is carried out, among other things, through restrictions on freedom of movement or forced marriages.

Its question to the European judges was whether the discriminatory measures can be classified as acts of persecution that justify the granting of refugee status. Furthermore, it was asked whether the competent national authority must consider other aspects than the nationality and gender of an Afghan woman in the context of the individual examination of the asylum application.

The court first responds that some of the measures in question by the Taliban are classified as “persecution” in themselves, as they constitute a serious violation of a fundamental right. This applies, for example, to forced marriage, which is equivalent to a form of slavery. The systematic and deliberate application of the measures would also lead to “flagrantly denying women the fundamental rights associated with human dignity.”

According to the EU judges, it is not necessary to establish that an applicant from Afghanistan actually and specifically faces the threat of persecution acts upon return to their country of origin. It is sufficient to consider merely their nationality and gender. (04.10.2024)

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