EUAA COI Report. Targeting of individuals

English

The purpose of this report is to provide information relevant for international protection status determination. The report contains information on targeting of individuals in Afghanistan.

The reference period is 1 December 2021–30 June 2022, and the report is partly to be viewed as a continuation of the EASO COI report: Afghanistan – Country Focus (January 2022).

Sections covering education personnel and forced recruitment were not covered in this preceding report. Therefore, these sections have reference periods starting on the date of the Taliban takeover of power in Afghanistan (15 August 2021). The background chapters also contain information from before the reference period.

The drafting of this report was finalised on 30 June 2022. Events taking place after this date are not included in this report, except for some clarifying information on the outcomes of a grand assembly that took place in Kabul City on 30 June 2022–2 July 2022.

The purpose of the background chapter of the report is to give a contextual understanding of the general population’s situation in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. It contains information on the political context, the functioning of the de facto state administration, and the implemented Islamic law (sharia). The chapter also contains information on the Taliban’s perception of persons leaving Afghanistan, mainly to Western countries, and the treatment of those trying to leave and those returning from abroad. The background is followed by 12 chapters, each covering the situation of a specific group or profile of interest for this report.

This report was jointly written by the Country of Origin Information (COI) sector of EUAA and the following national COI departments:

• Belgium, Centre for Documentation and Research (Cedoca), Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons;

• Finland, Legal Service and Country Information Unit, Finnish Immigration Service;

• France, Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA), Information, Documentation and Research Division (DIDR);

• Germany, Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF);

• Sweden, Unit for Migration Analysis, the Swedish Migration Agency.

The following departments reviewed the report:

• Belgium, Centre for Documentation and Research (Cedoca), Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons;

• Greece, Asylum Processes and Training Department, Greek Asylum Service, Ministry of Migration and Asylum;

• Slovakia, Department of Documentation and Foreign Cooperation, Migration Office of the Ministry of Interior.

This report is produced in line with the EASO COI Report Methodology (2019) and the EASO COI Writing and Referencing Style Guide (2019).

Policy

The overall security situation in Afghanistan in recent decades has been largely determined by a long-running internal armed conflict, as a result of which many Afghans are internally displaced or have sought refuge abroad. The Taliban took power in August 2021, after many years of conflict between the former government, its security forces and foreign troops on the one hand, and rebel groups such as the Taliban and the ISKP on the other.

The end of the fighting between the former government and the Taliban resulted in a sharp decline in conflict-related violence and a significant drop in civilian casualties. In assessing the need for international protection, the Commissioner General takes into account that the Taliban's control of the entire Afghan territory has a significant impact on the human rights situation in the country and on the risk faced by many Afghans in case of return.

Following the seizure of power by the Taliban, the Commissioner General announced a temporary, partial suspension of refugee status determination decisions. In the period between 15 August 2021 and 1 March 2022, no rejection decisions were taken for Afghan applicants. However, it was apparent that many persons clearly were in need of protection; positive decisions granting refugee status were taken for those cases during that period. This also applied to many persons evacuated from Kabul.

In early March 2022, the suspension was ended. Since then, the CGRS has been taking decisions again for all cases.

The CGRS has to assess whether a need for protection exists for each applicant for international protection. Every application is assessed individually. This is done on the basis of the refugee and subsidiary protection definitions contained in law and international treaties. The CGRS does not make "political" assessments of a regime and grant protection status on that basis.

Land: 
Afghanistan

Information about the asylum procedure, tailored to the asylum seeker, can be found at : asyluminbelgium.be.