“Simply taking into consideration their nationality and sex is sufficient,” according to a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
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All Afghan women can get asylum “uniquely” on the basis of their gender and nationality. In its response to a request from the Austrian Administrative Court after the refusal by the authorities to recognize the refugee status of two Afghan women, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on Friday October 4. Highlighting in its judgment the discriminatory measures to which women are subject in their country under the Taliban regime, “the competent authorities of the Member States may consider that it is not necessary to establish that the applicant actually and specifically risks being the subject of acts of persecution in the event of return to her country of origin“, writes the European court. “Simply taking into consideration one’s nationality and gender is sufficient”she adds.
Whether it is forced marriage, which is comparable to a form of slavery, or “the lack of protection against gender-based violence and domestic violence”it is “acts of persecution“, judges the Court. More broadly, “the cumulative effect and deliberate and systematic application” discriminatory measures result in “blatantly denying fundamental rights linked to human dignity”.
If member states remain sovereign to grant or not grant asylum, the decisions of the CJEU are set to set precedent.
Within the EU, Sweden, Finland and Denmark already grant refugee status to Afghan women. In France, the National Court of Asylum (CNDA) ruled in July that “all Afghan women” inasmuch as “social group eligible for protection as a refugee” were now eligible for asylum. Afghanistan has been the leading country of origin for asylum seekers in France for five years: 17,103 first asylum applications were filed in 2022, or 15% of the total, according to Ofpra.
Applying Islamic law in an ultra-rigorous manner, the Taliban have since their return to power in August 2021, imposed a “gender apartheid”according to the UN. Currently, Afghan women can no longer study beyond primary school, go to parks, gyms, beauty salons, or almost leave their homes without a chaperone. A recent law also prohibits them from making their voices heard in public.