The Geneva Convention and Protocol relating to Refugees Status, in its 33 articles, establishes that No Contracting State shall expel or return (“refouler”) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. 

In the same way, in its article 3, says; “The Contracting States shall apply the provisions of this Convention to refugees without discrimination as to race, religion or country of origin. “

Thousands of Afghans who have fled their country to neighboring countries such as Pakistan and Iran, because they are in danger of death at the hands of the Taliban, see how the doors of Europe and other Western countries are closed to them. This inaction of the institutions leaves them in a helpless situation that contravenes the Geneva Convention, giving them the only option to return to Afghanistan, where they will be persecuted by the Taliban regime, running the risk of being assassinated.

Afghan refugees are suffering totally discriminatory treatment in relation to refugees from other countries, as is the case of Ukrainian refugees, in contravention of the fundamental principles of this Convention.

Afghan refugees have left their homes, their belongings, everything in their country and are trapped in neighboring countries, trying to find international protection from EU member states, and find themselves with no information, long deadlines in the time, difficult rules to comply with to prove your risk, denials of your applications, etc…

We are asking the EU to accomplish UNCHR Guidance on the International Protection Needs of People Fleeing Afghanistan,  from February 2022, where it recommends: “Continues to call on all countries to allow civilians fleeing Afghanistan access to their territories, to guarantee the right to seek asylum, and to ensure respect for the principle of non-refoulment at all times….reconsider rejected applications and not reject applicants on the grounds of not being able to establish their refugee status…..and suspend the issuance of decisions to individual applicants in all cases where it cannot be determined that the person in question is a refugee within the meaning of the 1951 Convention. The suspension should remain in place until such time as the situation in Afghanistan has stabilized and reliable information about the security and human rights situation is available to make a full assessment of the need to grant refugee status to individual applicants.”

Afghanistan should be considered by the EU as a country in conflict, where the power of the state persecutes its citizens for defending their political ideas (alone women, human rights activists, lawyers, prosecutors, journalists, and social activists). 

Therefore, we demand to the EU that Afghan refugees have the real chance to ask for a humanitarian visa and get the subsidiary protection or the temporary protection through the directive 2001/55/EC recently activated for Ukrainian refugees.