In a landmark judgment, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that the systematic repression of women by Afghanistan’s Taliban regime qualifies as persecution, significantly easing the path for Afghan women to claim asylum in Europe. The court’s decision highlights that proving gender and Afghan nationality is sufficient to establish a well-founded fear of persecution, without the need for additional individualized evidence of harm.
The case arose from two asylum applications in Austria, where an Afghan woman and an Afghan girl had been initially denied refugee status. Their lawyers successfully argued that under the Taliban’s draconian rules, women and girls are automatically at risk of persecution due to severe restrictions on their basic freedoms. Under the Taliban, Afghan women face forced marriages, compulsory full-body veiling, and extreme barriers to education, employment, and healthcare access.
This ruling holds significant implications for EU asylum policies, particularly in Austria, where decisions are expected to align more closely with the ECJ’s emphasis on the blanket persecution faced by Afghan women. It clarifies that asylum claims from Afghan women must consider the general conditions of gender oppression, strengthening protections for those fleeing the regime.
The decision reinforces the principle that asylum laws must account for systemic human rights abuses, especially where gender-based violence is entrenched in state or de facto governance.
