Unhcr Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Afghanistan
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UNHCR ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION NEEDS OF ASYLUM-SEEKERS FROM AFGHANISTAN United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 17 December 2010 HCR/EG/AFG/10/04 NOTE UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines are issued by the Office to assist decision-makers, including UNHCR staff, Governments and private practitioners, in assessing the international protection needs of asylum-seekers. They are legal interpretations of the refugee criteria in respect of specific profiles on the basis of assessed social, political, economic, security, human rights and humanitarian conditions in the country/territory of origin concerned. The pertinent international protection needs are analyzed in detail, and recommendations made as to how the applications in question relate to the relevant principles and criteria of international refugee law as per, notably, the UNHCR Statute, the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, and relevant regional instruments such as the Cartagena Declaration, the 1969 OAU Convention and the EU Qualification Directive. The recommendations may also touch upon, as relevant, complementary or subsidiary protection regimes. UNHCR issues Eligibility Guidelines to promote the accurate interpretation and application of the above- mentioned refugee criteria in line with its supervisory responsibility as contained in paragraph 8 of its Statute in conjunction with Article 35 of the 1951 Convention and Article II of its 1967 Protocol and based on the expertise it has developed over the years in matters related to eligibility and refugee status determination. It is hoped that the guidance and information contained in the Guidelines will be considered carefully by the authorities and the judiciary in reaching decisions on asylum applications. The Guidelines are based on in-depth research, information provided by UNHCR’s global network of field offices and material from independent country specialists, researchers and other sources, rigorously reviewed for reliability. The Guidelines are posted on UNHCR’s Refworld website at http://www.refworld.org. 1 Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................3 II. BACKGROUND INFORMATION......................................................................................................4 III. ELIGIBILITY FOR INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION ................................................................6 A. POTENTIAL RISK PROFILES .......................................................................................................................7 1. Individuals Associated with, or Perceived as Supportive of, the Government and the International Community, Including the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)..................7 a) Civilians Associated with or Perceived as Supportive of ISAF.......................................................................8 b) Government Officials and Civil Servants........................................................................................................9 c) Traditional Tribal and Religious Leaders ......................................................................................................10 d) Women in the Public Sphere .........................................................................................................................11 e) Election Candidates and Workers..................................................................................................................11 2. Humanitarian Workers and Human Rights Activists.........................................................................12 3. Journalists and Other Media Professionals ......................................................................................13 4. Civilians Suspected of Supporting Armed Anti-Government Groups................................................16 5. Members of Minority Religious Groups and Persons Perceived as Contravening Shari’a Law....................................................................................................................................................18 a) Conversion from Islam ...................................................................................................................................18 b) Other Acts Contravening Shari’a Law............................................................................................................19 c) Minority Religious Groups .............................................................................................................................19 6. Women with Specific Profiles............................................................................................................20 a) Sexual and Gender-Based Violence................................................................................................................21 b) Harmful Traditional Practices ........................................................................................................................22 c) Women Perceived as Contravening Social Mores ..........................................................................................23 7. Children with Specific Profiles..........................................................................................................25 a) Forced Recruitment .......................................................................................................................................25 b) Access to Education ......................................................................................................................................26 c) Sexual and Gender-Based Violence ..............................................................................................................27 8. Victims of Trafficking ........................................................................................................................27 9. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Individuals..........................................28 10. Members of (Minority) Ethnic Groups ..............................................................................................29 11. Blood Feuds.......................................................................................................................................32 B. ELIGIBILITY UNDER BROADER INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION CRITERIA, INCLUDING COMPLEMENTARY FORMS OF PROTECTION.............................................................................................33 1. Civilian Casualties ............................................................................................................................34 2. Security Incidents ..............................................................................................................................36 3. Conflict-Induced Displacements and Voluntary Returns...................................................................36 4. Summary Regarding Generalized Violence.......................................................................................37 C. INTERNAL FLIGHT OR RELOCATION ALTERNATIVE.................................................................................38 1. Individuals at Risk of Targeted Persecution......................................................................................38 2. Individuals Fleeing Generalized Violence.........................................................................................40 D. EXCLUSION FROM INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE PROTECTION ....................................................................40 1. Members of the Security Forces, Including KhAD/WAD Agents and High-Ranking Officials of the Communist Regimes ................................................................................................................42 2. Members of Armed Groups and Militia Forces During and After the Communist Regimes .............43 3. Members of the Taliban, Hezb–e-Islami Hikmatyar and Other Armed Anti-Government Groups...............................................................................................................................................43 2 I. Introduction These Guidelines supersede and replace the July 2009 UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Afghanistan.1 They are issued against a backdrop of a worsening security situation in certain parts of Afghanistan and sustained conflict- related human rights violations as well as contain information on the particular profiles for which international protection needs may arise in the current context in Afghanistan.2 UNHCR’s recommendations, as set out in these Guidelines, are summarized below. All claims lodged by asylum-seekers, whether on the basis of the refugee criteria contained in the 1951 Convention or broader international protection criteria, including complementary forms of protection, need to be considered on their own merits according to fair and efficient status determination procedures and up-to-date and relevant country of origin information. UNHCR considers that individuals with the profiles outlined below require a particularly careful examination of possible risks. These risk profiles, while not necessarily exhaustive, include (i) individuals associated with, or perceived as supportive of, the Afghan Government and the international community, including the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF); (ii)