Nationality enough for Afghan women to seek asylum, rules EU court

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Friday said that an EU country can grant asylum to Afghan women solely based on their nationality and gender. The decision comes in response to the severe restrictions imposed on women's rights by the Taliban since their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.

Under Taliban rule, women in Afghanistan have faced an extreme interpretation of Islam, which has gradually pushed them out of public life. The United Nations has described these restrictions as "gender apartheid," with women bearing the heaviest burden, AFP News Agency.

The ECJ's ruling originated from a case involving two Afghan women whose refugee status was denied by Austrian authorities. The women challenged the decision, and Austria's Supreme Administrative Court referred the case to the EU's highest court.

In its judgment, the ECJ stated that the Taliban's discriminatory measures against women "constitute acts of persecution," which warrant the granting of refugee status. The court further clarified that member states' competent authorities can consider it unnecessary to prove that an applicant will face specific acts of persecution upon returning to her country of origin. "It is sufficient to take into account her nationality and gender alone," the court concluded.

Several EU countries, including Sweden, Finland, and Denmark, already grant refugee status to all Afghan women seeking asylum based on these criteria, the agency reported.