22 FMR 13 Afghan refugees in Europe by A-R Faquiri The tragedy of 11 September became a turning point be considered eligible for deportation. In late December, when the Taliban in the history of a country thousands of kilometres regime had lost power, the immigra- tion authorities asked the Dutch away from New York, a nation with no direct involve- cabinet and parliament to approve the ment in what had happened to the Twin Towers. cessation of normal adjudication pro- cedures relating to Afghan asylum fghanistan deserved recogni- this Islamic state would offer the claims. It was agreed to freeze deci- tion for its role in the fall of Afghan people only anarchy, corrup- sions on new and existing claims and A the repressive Soviet empire. tion and repression. Unfortunately allow the Immigration Service a period Instead, it became the biggest produc- Jehadi groups surround the Interim of up to a year to make decisions. er of drugs in the world and the Authority installed by the UN in centre of command and training for Kabul. Their presence leaves little According to the new Dutch Law on Islamic fundamentalist terrorists. The space for independent technocrats to Foreigners, an asylum seeker’s claim Taliban acted more as the Afghan do their jobs properly. Even in the should be assessed within six months branch of al-Qa’ida than the govern- capital, Kabul, there is only peace in of the application being lodged. If, ment of Afghanistan. The reluctance daylight. At night, when the foreign after acceptance, they have been legal- of the Taliban leadership to hand over peacekeeping troops go back to their ly in the Netherlands for three years, Bin Laden and his lieutenants to the bases, misuse of power, repression and if their country of origin is not US government reflected the subordi- and criminality rule in the city. safe for their return at the end of that nate position of the Taliban to three-year period, they should be al-Qa’ida. The first victim of this state Such fundamentalist parties as granted permanent residence. of affairs was the population of Jamiat-I-Islami of ex-president Rabani Afghans who would have become Afghanistan. and the Etehad-I-Islami of Professor eligible for this kind of permanent resi- Saiaf are preparing themselves for a dence if their claims had been handled there is only peace in daylight gradual cleansing of the liberal mem- and accepted during the period since bers of the Karzai administration. October 2001 are now being asked to The defeat of the Taliban and the dis- This cleansing has already started wait an unspecified period of time for mantling of al-Qa’ida have been with the killing of Abdul Rahman, the granting of their legal rights. achieved, more or less, in Minister for Aviation, at Kabul airport Afghanistan. However, another kind in February 2002. The Dutch Ministry of Justice seems of Islamic fundamentalism has to hope that at the end of this period Many Afghans who have travelled to returned to power. The so-called the situation in Afghanistan will be Afghanistan since the fall of the Mujahed groups, driven from power sufficiently safe to enable Afghans’ Taliban have already returned once by the Taliban, have come back to try asylum applications to be rejected. more to Europe, demotivated after to re-establish their ideal Islamic It is hard to believe, however, that the searching for an opportunity to take state. The experience of the period security problems of Afghanistan will part in their country’s reconstruction. between 1992 and 1996 shows that be solved so speedily. The lives of Some returnees have been killed or thousands of Afghan refugees might abducted. Despite the still uncertain be at risk if they were sent back. The situation, immigration authorities in Secretary of State for Justice, Ella various European countries have start- Kalsbeek, has said that she is develop- ed to talk about voluntary and even ing policy on the return of Afghans forced return of Afghan refugees to and hinted that later forced returns Afghanistan. The British Home might take place. Mrs Kalsbeek’s Secretary has called on Afghan words have greatly alarmed Afghan refugees in the UK to return to take refugees. part in reconstruction. Other coun- tries have already taken measures to In the Netherlands, as elsewhere in contain the growth of the number of Europe, Afghan refugees and asylum Afghan refugees. seekers fear for their prospects. It is hard to say whether there will be a The Dutch authorities appear keen to future for those returning from exile. remove the 30,000 Afghan refugees Let us hope that European leaders will and asylum seekers in the carefully study the situation on the Netherlands. In October 2001 the ground in Afghanistan before judging Dutch Immigration Service stopped whether it is safe for Afghan asylum making decisions on Afghan asylum seekers to return. applications in order to prevent the issuance of residence documents to A-R Faquiri is Vice-Chairman of Afghans who, some weeks later, might the Federation of Afghan Refugees in Europe (FAROE). US Committee for Refugees