Afghan human rights defender granted asylum after Home Office U-turn

An Afghan lady who risked her existence protecting human rights in her house nation has been allowed to stick in the United Kingdom after a Home Office U-turn.

The Guardian up to now reported at the case of Mina*, whose asylum declare was once rejected by means of the Home Office in spite of her high-profile paintings in Afghanistan. She labored for western government-backed tasks and was once serious about coaching and mentoring ladies around the nation, which put her in grave threat even earlier than the Taliban took over in 2021.

Home Office officers had stated of their refusal letter: “It is considered that you do not face a real risk of persecution or harm on your return to Afghanistan on the basis of your claimed adverse attention by the Taliban.”

Mina’s attorneys lodged an enchantment towards the refusal however earlier than the enchantment was once heard the Home Office despatched a brand new letter granting refugee standing, announcing: “We accept you have a well-founded fear of persecution and therefore cannot return to your country, Afghanistan.”

Mina stated she was once delighted concerning the authorities’s alternate of center. “I had been living in sorrow for a long time,” she stated. “But now, good news has finally come, and it has overwhelmed me with joy and happiness. The word ‘freedom’ immediately popped into my head – a freedom to move forward with my life in the UK, a freedom which is taken from millions of Afghan women.”

Her solicitor, Jamie Bell at Duncan Lewis, stated: “I am delighted that Mina has finally been granted asylum. She is an astonishingly kind and brave women who never should have had her clear right to asylum doubted for one second.

“It is essential for the home secretary to confirm that all Afghan women are entitled to asylum to ensure that horrendous mistakes like Mina’s case do not happen again.”

The preliminary refusal of Mina’s declare comes at a time that the asylum grant for Afghanistan has fallen dramatically from a charge of 98.5% within the final quarter of 2023 to 36% within the final quarter of 2024.

According to freedom of data knowledge shared with the Guardian in 2022, 77 appeals towards Home Office refusals of Afghan asylum claims had been lodged within the immigration court docket. In 2024 that quantity jumped to 3,293.

“The fall in the grant rate will not lead to an increase in removal action,” Bell added. “The UK does not acknowledge the Taliban and does not have an agreement to return anyone. The consequence of this startling policy change is that thousands will remain in limbo for years, unable to work whilst their cases are decided by the overburdened court system.”

In a separate case, the Home Office has granted a visa and agreed to fly to the United Kingdom a lady who labored to counter violence towards ladies in Afghanistan. She has spent maximum of her time in hiding because the Taliban takeover of her nation.

Mia Lucy Forton, a caseworker at Duncan Lewis, stated: “For over 3 years, our consumer has lived beneath the consistent risk of detection by means of the Taliban. Despite the encroachment at the rights of girls and women in Afghanistan, she has remained unwavering in her dedication to suggest for the rights of girls in her nation.

The Home Office has been approached for remark.

* Names were modified