VIENNA: The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Friday that nationality and gender alone are “sufficient” grounds for an EU country to grant asylum to Afghan women, whose rights have been severely curtailed under Taliban rule.
Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, they have imposed a strict interpretation of Islam, systematically excluding women from public life. The United Nations has described the resulting restrictions as “gender apartheid.”
The ruling follows a case where Austrian authorities denied refugee status to two Afghan women. They challenged this decision at Austria’s Supreme Administrative Court, which then referred the matter to the ECJ.
The ECJ concluded that the Taliban’s discriminatory actions against women “constitute acts of persecution” that warrant recognition of refugee status. The court stated, “Member states’ authorities can determine that it is unnecessary to establish a specific risk of persecution upon return to the applicant’s country of origin.”
The ruling underscores that merely considering an individual’s nationality and gender is sufficient for granting asylum. Notably, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark have already extended refugee status to all Afghan women seeking asylum.
