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A total of 16 Afghan journalists staying in Iran and Pakistan have had their visa requests refused by the French authorities. These professionals have remained stranded in these countries since the Taliban came to power in 2021.
Four lawyers based in France have submitted an urgent legal request to the administrative court to return France’s decision to reject the visas of the 16 journalists. The interim relief was also supported by the National Union of Journalists (SNJ) and the French Lawyers’ Union (SAF), Schengen.News reports.
According to Amnesty International, at least 64 journalists were detained by the Taliban between 2021 and 2023, indicating that the situation is getting worse. More than 80 per cent of women journalists had given up their work, and among those that could flee Afghanistan have resettled in Iran or Pakistan.
Macron Had Promised to Help Displaced Afghanis
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, had said that France would help those who were displaced due to the capture of Afghanistan by the Taliban. However, France continues to refuse visas to these individuals.
However, the number of visa refusals is almost higher than the number of approved visas, including women, as Humanity reports.
The NGOs say that the situation is only deteriorating, indicating that Afghan journalists have not received proper support as promised.
According to Eurostat, the EU Statistical Office, Afghanis are the second-largest nationality group to apply for asylum in the EU in 2023. In total, 100,935 asylum applications were recorded, representing 9.6 per cent of the total. Some of the most popular destinations for Afghanis seeking asylum were Germany and France, with 50.8 per cent of Afghanis seeking protection in Germany alone.
However, Afghanis represented the largest asylum applicant group in France, filing 16,860 asylum applications in 2023.
Source: https://schengen.news/france-refuses-visas-to-16-afghan-journalists-stranded-in-iran-pakistan/
