ECJ rules gender, nationality enough to grant Afghan women asylum

Two Afghan women had challenged Austria's asylum refusal as a result of which the case was referred to EU's top court

BRUSSELS:

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Friday that gender and nationality alone were sufficient for a country to grant asylum to women from Afghanistan, where the ruling Taliban have sharply curtailed women's rights.

Authorities in Austria refused refugee status to two Afghan women after they applied for asylum in 2015 and 2020. They challenged the refusal before the Austrian Supreme Administrative Court, which in turn requested a ruling from the ECJ, the top European Union court.

"It is unnecessary to establish that there is a risk that the applicant will actually and specifically be subject to acts of persecution if she returns to her country of origin," the ECJ said in its ruling.

"It is sufficient to take into account her nationality and gender alone." The Austrian Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Since Afghanistan's Islamist Taliban returned to power in 2021 it has clamped down on women's rights, including limits to schooling, work and general independence in daily life.

In August, the Taliban codified a long set of rules governing morality in line with sharia (Islamic law). The rules are enforced by the morality ministry, which says it has detained thousands of people for violations.

The United Nations human rights chief has called for the Taliban to repeal a set of "egregious" laws that he said were attempting to turn women into shadows.

One woman, called AH in court papers, first fled Afghanistan to Iran with her mother and sisters at around 13-14 years of age after her drug addict father tried to sell her to finance his addiction, according to a court document describing AH's claims.

The other, identified as FN, born in 2007, has never lived in Afghanistan. She and her family had been living in neighbouring Iran without residence permits, meaning they had no right work and she could not receive an education. She fled Iran before filing an asylum request in Austria.

"She (FN) said that if she returned to Afghanistan, as a woman, she would be at risk of abduction, would be unable to attend school and might be unable to support herself without her family there," an ECJ case document said.