Denmark to Grant Asylum to All Women and Girls From Afghanistan

The Danish Refugee Appeals Board, Flygtningenævnet, confirmed in a statement late on Monday that it has changed practice, stating it will now grant take asylum to women and girls from Afghanistan “solely based on their gender”.

The decision was taken by during an extraordinary meeting undertaken by the appeals board.

It cites “ongoing worsening conditions” for women and girls in Afghanistan as the basis for its decision.

Human rights organisation Amnesty International welcomed the decision and called it “better late than never”, broadcaster DR writes.

Women and girls in the Asian country have seen rights increasingly taken from them since the Taliban took control in 2021. Girls are now no longer allowed to go to school after 5th grade and women have been banned from working for foreign aid organisations. The Taliban has also banned female students from attending universities across the country.

In its decision the Refugee Appeals Board refers to a new report from the EU’s Agency for Asylum. In the report, the EU agency writes  that the “accumulation of various measures introduced by the Taliban, which affect the rights and freedoms of women and girls in Afghanistan, amounts to persecution.”

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

The Danish agency currently has five ongoing asylum cases with female Afghan nationals. Those persons can “in principle be granted residence” under asylum rules, it says in the statement.

The appeals board will also reopen all cases involving asylum for female applicants from Afghanistan which have been rejected since August 16th 2021, it said. {snip}

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The new Danish practice brings Denmark in line with Sweden in its treatment of Afghan refugees, according to news wire Ritzau.

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