We are a network of asylum-seeking children, women and families from Afghanistan which is called ”Life without Borders (Liv utan Gränser)”. We demand the end of the uncertain and insecure situation and life of Afghanistani asylum-seeking children, women and families in Sweden, and Sweden must let them live in peace and security by giving them residence permit.

For the past 20 days the Afghanistani asylum seeking children and their families who have come from different cities of Sweden to Stockholm, demonstrate and strike in order to save their children’s lives by getting residence permit in Sweden. Most of these asylum-seekers are from an especial ethnicity that is called Hazara. This ethnicity has always been under persecution, oppression, target killings and systematic discrimination both by terrorist groups and also by the government.

Even though most of the children are born and raised in Sweden, the Swedish Migration Authority has rejected their asylum applications, given them refusal and told them to return to Afghanistan. It means that the asylum-seekers live in constant fear of deportation while their living conditions are uncertain and they lacke some basic legal rights. It means that the Swedish Migration Authority can neither deport these asylum-seeking children and women nor let them live like a common person in Sweden.

These children, women and families cannot live in Afghanistan because they are in danger of death there. Afghanistan is the most dangerous country in 2019 according to the Global Peace Index; especially the vulnerable groups like Hazaras, ethnic and religious minorities, women and children are extremely in the risk of death. Terrorist groups kill all people (Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks and etc. They are victims too ) in Afghanistan but the case with the Hazaras who are Shia Muslims is different because the Sunni radical and extremist terrorists like ISIS and Taliban target the Hazara schools and gatherings. Hazara passengers are being beheaded, looted and finally killed on the highways while travelling between cities. On the other hand, this people, just for being Hazara are being systematically discriminated by the Government of Afghanistan.

Moreover, these children and women are also the target of the terrorist groups like Taliban and ISIS because the terrorists think that these families have become Westernized and they are no more Muslims, they don’t follow the teachings of Shria Law and Islamic teachings, they have become LGTBQ (HBTQ). Every day in Afghanistan, women’s and children’s rights are being violated, they are being sexually abused, raped, kidnaped and harassed. We do not want that these children and women should be the victims of terrorism, war, target killings and beheadings. We don’t want our children be the victims of mafia, drug-dealers and be recruited by terrorists for being used for suicide bombings.

Therefore, We demand:
1)  The asylum applications of vulnerable groups and minorities (ethnic minorities, religious minorities, other groups such as LGBTQ, Atheist, etc) must be reopened, and they must have special privileges for asylum because they are under persecution, systematic discrimination and target killings in Afghanistan. They must not be deported to Afghanistan under any circumstance.
2) The politicians to come up with a new solution so that these Afghanistani children and families are allowed to stay in Sweden by getting a residence permit so that they can access their basic rights. We especially demand that they have the right to work legally.
3) The interpretation of the Children’s Convention must be applied on Afghanistani children too. 
4) The Swedish Migration Authority and Sweden should reconsider the security situation of Afghanistan, internal flight alternatives and being IDPs in Afghanistan is not an option for these refugee families because these refugees will be geographically imprisoned. There is a very big likelihood that they will be killed, persecuted and attacked on their ways between cities

Therefore, I urge you to sign this petition and save the life and future of these Afghanistani children, women and families to stay in Sweden and get residence permit.