Denmark Grants Asylum to Afghan women

Denmark decided to automatically grant asylum to Afghan women and girls on the basis of their gender, due to the decline in their rights since the return of the Taliban to power in the country.

"The decision is based on information regarding the continuing deterioration of the living conditions of women and girls in Afghanistan," the Danish Committee for Refugees said in a statement, citing a report recently published by the European Asylum Agency.

It added that the situation of a number of groups of people in Afghanistan, especially women and girls, amounts to persecution in accordance with the Refugee Convention.

According to the committee, five pending cases of Afghan women will be granted asylum under the new decision.

The commission will also review cases related to Afghan women who were refused asylum after the Taliban came to power to grant a residence permit to the persons concerned under the new decision (about ten cases).

It will also review all cases involving Afghan males (about thirty cases) who were denied asylum on the same date.

Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban has gradually restricted the freedoms women gained over the past two decades since the fall of their former regime in 2001.

In addition to being denied the right to study, women are also prevented from exercising most government jobs.

Women are only allowed to travel with a male relative and must wear a burqa or headscarf when leaving the house.

The Taliban authorities ordered local and foreign non-governmental organizations at the end of last December not to hire women after "serious complaints" about the way they dress, four days after banning studies in universities for the same reasons.