Statement on the occasion of demonstration on the 10th of November from 1pm to 5pm. From the City Hall Square to Christiansborgs Slotsplads.
By Afghan Asylum Seekers
Dear parliament members,
30 years of war in Afghanistan has not only resulted in total destruction of the country, but also caused hundreds of thousands of innocent people to lose their lives, and others the use of their limbs. Thousands of children have lost their parents, and numerous women have lost their home. Last but not least, millions of Afghanis have been forced to leave the country in search for a safe place to live.
Peace was expected after the fall of the Taliban regime. Despite of the presence of NATO forces, this dream was never realized, and the average Afghanis life became dangerous and unsafe, due to several terror attacks and an unstable government,
The Afghani government has recently officially acknowledged that the security of the country in the current situation has reached a critical level, and that peace is impossible due to the presence of Taliban. The situation gets even more complicated by corruption on every level of the society, and by the fact that the authorities, or rather the people in power in the local communities, are behind the many threats, killings, and torture that are committed daily.
One of the consequences of this is an ongoing incitement to hatred in the traditional Afghani society. Here, the only choice is to kill or to be killed – a problem most of the Afghan asylum seekers know by heart. It has caused many to lose their hope of peace in Afghanistan.
To escape this unbearable situation many Afghanis have suffered numerous life-threatening experiences. The fact that so many risk their lives to reach safety is a shocking testament to the critical situation in Afghanistan. Nobody flee without a reason. We, the asylum seekers living in Denmark, have often witnessed unfair handlings of our cases by the Department of Foreigners. In the first four months of 2011, 125 of 162 Afghanis have received a rejection on their residence application.(1) Most of them are under the age of thirty, all people who could be a part of the Danish society as a positive resource and asset.
The harsh and discriminating rules and actions of the Department of Foreigners are in sharp contrast to the democratic and humanitarian values prevalent in this country. We ask the Danish Government to consider the many violations of human rights in Afghanistan, the UN’s description of Afghanistan as an unsafe country, and the world declaration on human rights in relation to the right to asylum. Furthermore, we demand:
- an immediate stop of the deportation of Afghan asylum seekers.
- a faster procedure in the cases involving minors under eighteen. Many suffer from mental illnesses due to the uncertainty and the long wait in the Danish asylum centers.
- a faster case procedure in cases involving women, since this group in particular have been subjected to abuse of their fundamental rights, both in Afghanistan and here in Denmark.
- a faster case procedure in cases involving the chronicle ill, who has received rejection on their application on residence.
- a shortening of the time spend treating the cases involving Afghan asylum seekers.
If our wishes are not taken in consideration, we will be forced to arrange peaceful, but large-scale protests and demonstrations in this country.
We thank the Trampolinhouse, visavis, Solibus, Danish Red Cross, and our Danish as well as Afghan friends for their help in the process of making our voices heard.
Best Regards
Afghan Asylum seekers.
