Denmark to grant asylum status to Afghan women ‘solely based on gender’

Copenhagen: Denmark has announced that it will grant asylum to all Afghan women owing to their worsening condition in the Taliban-ruled nation.

Flygtningenævnet, the Danish Refugee Appeals Board stated that asylum status will be granted to all female applicants “solely based on their gender”.

Citing a report from the European Union’s Agency for Asylum, the appeals board said that asylum status would be given to women as the “accumulation of various measures introduced by the Taliban affect the rights and freedoms of women and girls in Afghanistan.”

“Such measures affect their access to healthcare, work, freedom of movement, freedom of expression, girls’ right to education, among others,” the board added.

The board will also reopen all the rejected cases from the past. In 2021, 10 Afghan women were denied entry into the Scandinavian country, while applications of 30 Afghan men were rejected in the same year.

Currently, cases of five female Afghan nationals are in review. The board added that anyone, especially women, can “in principle be granted residence” under the new asylum rules, according to Anadolu Agency.

Sweden grants asylum status

In December 2022, Sweden decided that all women from Afghanistan must be recognised as refugees under the Geneva Convention.

The country offered protection to as many as 402 female Afghan applicants out of a total 451 between 2021 to 2022.

The Swedish Migration Agency said, “Afghan women’s basic rights are violated through a range of discriminatory legal, administrative, police and/or judicial measures and … the accumulation of these measures amounts to persecution,” and therefore they found it necessary for them to grant asylum.

Afghan women fleeing to Pakistan

In a country that has banned both school and university education for women, victims of the hard-line rulings of Taliban have been trying to find a home in cash-strapped Pakistan, according to a report by Nikkei Asia.

But the situation in Pakistan hasn’t been ideal either. “I had many issues when I first arrived in Pakistan. I barely managed to find a place to live,” said a woman who fled Afghanistan with her daughter.

“Even though I’m still having trouble, at least I’m satisfied that my daughters can attend school,” she added.

Since 2021 when Taliban took over Afghanistan, scores of Afghans have crossed the Durand Line to enter Pakistan.

A 2021 estimate from Pakistan suggested that the country would require $2.2 billion to care for around 700,000 Afghan refugees.

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