2026-02-08 18:00
publication
2026-02-08 18:00
Four Afghan women who were refused protection by the Dutch authorities and planned to be deported will, however, receive permission to stay in the Netherlands, the “Trouw” daily found out.
According to Dutch media, the Migration and Naturalization Office (IND) justifies the change of position by the recent deterioration of the situation of women in Afghanistan. Earlier, the Minister for Asylum and Migration, David van Weel, defended the approach based on individual assessment and emphasized that the judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU on cumulative discrimination against women does not mean that every Afghan woman will automatically be granted asylum. At the same time, the Netherlands announced an update of the “national” approach to Afghanistan. This may make it easier for Afghan women to obtain asylum in the Netherlands.
In the background of the case, there remains a public discussion about the safety of an Afghan woman appearing in the documentary series “Hila voorbij de Taliban” (“Hila among the Taliban”) promoted by the public broadcaster AVROTROS. Host Hila Noorzai said this week that taekwondo trainer Khadija Ahmadzada's involvement in the production was not the reason for her arrest, and that the woman herself had already been fired. Noorzai referred to information according to which the Taliban justified the detention with alleged “violations” – including: hijab rules and the presence of men and women in her gym.
The situation of women in Afghanistan is worsening with further restrictions. The Afghan human rights organization Rawadari reported in January about a new “code of criminal procedure for courts” introduced by the Taliban. The document – as the organization emphasizes – limits the basic guarantees of a fair trial, strengthens the role of “confession” as evidence and is intended to perpetuate discrimination, including through references to the status of “free” and “enslaved”.
Patryk Kulpok from Amsterdam
pmk/ san/
