Afghans protest numbers denied refugee status

A GROUP of Afghan asylum seekers protested outside the Dáil yesterday, highlighting the high numbers who have been turned down for refugee status.

The asylum seekers claim that more than 90% have been refused refugee status after appeal and say some are facing the threat of deportation from January 2006.

The numbers of Afghans seeking refugee status in Ireland is small, no more than 400, according to a spokesman for the group.

Some 100 from the war-torn country have been turned down for refugee status, said Osman Hotak.

They must now depend on the discretionary powers of Justice Minister MIchael McDowell to give them humanitarian leave to avoid deportation.

“They are trying to send Afghans back to Afghanistan from January 2006,” said Mr Hotak.

“The fact is that Afghanistan is not a safe place. The security situation is deteriorating. It is still badly war-torn.”

Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins, who met the 100 protesters outside the Dáil, decried the high rate of refusals.

“The notion that Afghanistan is a democracy is a myth. The country remains unsafe. Everybody knows that.

“This is a scandal. It’s clear to everybody in Afghanistan that there is a crisis there for ordinary people. The warlords are dominant. It is really bad for women. Democracy runs only skin deep,” said Mr Higgins.

Since the ruling Taliban regime was deposed in late 2001, a democratically-elected government has been established.

However, many regions are controlled by ethnic and factional warlords; and are effectively beyond the control of the Kabul administration.

The Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner was last night not in a position to confirm the claimed number of refusals of claims by Afghan asylum seekers.