Since western forces withdrew from Afghanistan life has become increasingly difficult many living there, especially women, who are subjected to a strict dress code and restrictive rules that prevent them from studying, working and travelling alone. These restrictions make it very difficult for women to travel. Asylum in Switzerland can only be sought on arrival, so the only way to legally do this is to obtain a humanitarian visa first allowing travel.
However, a Swiss Federal Administrative Court took a decision on a case this week that makes it clear that Afghan women do not automatically qualify for the humanitarian visas, reported SRF. This effectively closes to door to asylum for most women in the country.
The case heard by the court this week involved a widowed Afghan woman applying for humanitarian visas for herself and her children at the Swiss embassy in Pakistan. She told the embassy that the Taliban had sent her threatening letters and set her house on fire. However, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) decided not to grant the woman and her children the humanitarian visas they would need to travel to Switzerland.
The court confirmed the decision made by SEM stating that these visas are intended for especially vulnerable people at greater risk than the general population and that the widow did not qualify.
The court cited examples where visas had been granted because it was clear why the Taliban would target the people involved. One was granted to someone who had investigated the Taliban and another to a well-known television presenter and women’s rights activist.
The court said that being an Afghan woman alone was not enough to qualify for a visa, and that it was not clear why the the woman in this case would be targeted by the Taliban.
The judgment, which is final and cannot be appealed, will make it much more difficult for Afghan women to enter Switzerland legally.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
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