The Finnish Immigration Service has updated its guideline for Afghanistan, including suspending issuing negative decisions to Afghan citizens, especially girls and women, as Afghanistan’s security situation is considered extremely unstable.
According to a press release by the immigration authorities, the measure introduced was initially meant to be temporary, but as the situation worsens in Afghanistan, authorities see it best fit to continue issuing positive decisions for Afghan applicants from several provinces, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“In practice, no decisions to return Afghan asylum seekers have been issued since July 9, 2021. If an asylum seeker does not meet the criteria for international protection, they can usually be granted a discretionary residence permit based on humanitarian reasons,” the special adviser Laura Suominen, pointed out in this regard.
She also noted that processing and decisions are made on the basis of up-to-date country information, which includes attacks by ISKP and other anti-Taliban militant groups.
Following the new guidelines, all women and girls will receive positive answers on their asylum statuses, making gender the only requirement needed for them to receive asylum.
In addition, the immigration authorities say that an applicant’s personal circumstances for asylum will be taken more into account under the new guideline. For example, for people coming from the Province of Panjshir, the role of their personal circumstances is minor when assessing the need for additional protection on the basis of residence, as this region is known to have high levels of violence.
However, there are other provinces in Afghanistan where the personal circumstances of an applicant for asylum are more important when discussing subsidiary protections, with some of these provinces being Baghlan, Kabul, Badakhshan, Nangarhar, Parwan, Kapisa, Kandahar and Takhar.
“For example, a person’s Hazara background is taken into account increasingly as a factor that may affect the need for protection. We are currently granting asylum to Hazaras and Shiite Muslims from Nangarhar or Kunar provinces and the city of Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif or Kunduz,” Eeva-Maija Leivo, the Head of Section, says.
As per other regions in Afghanistan, civilians don’t risk as much becoming victims of indiscriminate violence, as these provinces don’t have armed conflict.
The official website for information about asylum in Finland explains that the main criteria for issuing a positive decision include origin, religion, nationality, membership in a specific social group or political opinion. Many applicants sometimes don’t receive asylum but could be granted a residence permit based on subsidiary protection, and the main causes for this could be the death penalty, execution, torture and serious personal danger due to armed conflicts.
source https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/finland-to-grant-asylum-to-all-afghani-women-girls/
Categories: Afghanistan, Asia, Europe, Europe and Australia, European Union, Finland