Status Of Afghan Women Refugees In India
Author: LawSphereX
Category: International Law
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STATUS OF AFGHAN WOMEN REFUGEES IN INDIA
Shrestha Datta, B.B.A., LL.B. (Hons.), Amity Law School, Amity University, Kolkata
ABSTRACT
Following the withdrawal of the U. S. military, and the fall of Afghan governance in the hands of the Taliban rule in 2021 has ushered in a new era of oppression and tyranny for Afghan women. The Taliban has intensely taken control over the women’s lives, with women facing systemic discrimination and being deprived of their basic human rights, including the right to education for the girls above the age of 10, the right of free speech and movement, the right to participate actively in the discussions of the international organizations and working in the local communities. This longstanding gender apartheid and severe constraint on their rights which attack their autonomy, rights, and their daily lives have compelled Afghan women to flee and seek refuge and asylum in the neighbouring nation states including Pakistan, Iran, and India among others.
However, the major drawback lies in the fact that India is one of the liberal democratic nations that did not sign and ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 protocol. There is also the dearth of a codified domestic law for the protection and administration of the rights and shortcomings of the refugees residing within the territory of India. The UNHCR India provides identity cards to the refugees, however, it has little to no legal value and thereby face challenges not only in gaining a legal status identity as a refugee in India, but also in availing the rights and protections. Afghan women refugees also face genderbased prejudice in accessing work opportunities, education and in the economy.
However, it is seen that they strive relentlessly to fight for their rights and reconstruct their livelihood by participating in community projects, and becoming part of the various non-governmental organisations that function to help the women see a new light at the end of the tunnel. Keywords: Taliban, Afghan women refugees, UNHCR, NGOs, India
INTRODUCTION
Afghanistan has been witnessing decades of instability and internal conflicts, dating way back to the 1978 Saur Revolution, followed by the 1979 Soviet Invasion. On August 15, 2021, the turbulent reclamation of power by the Taliban over the governance, after the withdrawal of the US military and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), abject poverty and hunger amid the economic collapse, and curtailing of human rights, have led to a huge displacement of Afghans from their homeland, both internal as well as external. There has been serious abuse of human rights and economic upheavals. As Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistani ambassador to the US said, “There's no reason to think that a new Taliban regime won't be another humanitarian eyesore.
”1 This forced millions of Afghan families to flee and seek refuge outside the insurgency-struck nation to other countries like Pakistan, Iran, and India among others. Among the tumultuous number of refugees, are the affected women and children. 15 August 2021 is considered the black day for Afghan women, marked by the largest women’s rights crisis in the world. With the Taliban regime taking sweeping control over the nation state within days, women and girls are stripped of their rights like the freedom of speech and movement, access to secondary education, and adequate livelihood, among many others. Several other rights are also severely constrained. 98% of women felt they have zero decision-making in their communities2. Once filled with the hope for a better future, the Afghan streets have become shadows of their former selves.
The Taliban shut down almost all girls’ secondary schools. Women were hauled off of a plane when they had nearly made their escape to study overseas3. Girls were pushed out of school at just the age of 10. Female nursery school teachers were dismissed4. Women had just begun to reclaim their rights, and now they face a grim reality where fundamental rights like the right to education, health, freedom of speech, and movement, are a distant
1 Scott Neuman, 4 reasons a Taliban takeover in Afghanistan matters to the world NPR (2021),
(last visited Nov 17, 2024)
2 In Focus: Afghan women and girls push for their rights over three years of Taliban rule, Asia,
(last visited Nov 17, 2024). 33 Noor Gul Shafaq, Taliban stop female Afghan students leaving country to study in Dubai, BBC News (2023), (last visited Nov 17, 2024)
4 Holly Johnston, Taliban dismiss almost 500 female nursery teachers The National (2023),
(last visited Nov 18, 2024)
memory for many5. With the Taliban suppressing the brighter tomorrow, the psychological toll of living under constant threat and instability is immense, with 68% reporting “bad” or “very bad” mental health6. “Today in Kabul a female cat has more freedom than a woman. A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today. A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not, and a woman may not in public. This is extraordinary. This is a suppression of the natural law. ” quoted Meryl Streep, in her powerful speech at the United Nations General Assembly7 on 24th September 2024. Women are even prevented from working in the non-governmental organisations and the UN agencies. They are denied the opportunities for education, and the opportunity to raise their voices, and any women who went against the Taliban rules are brutally beaten and even killed.
Afghanistan now stands as the only country in the world where girls are barred from attending high school. “This latest discriminatory and profoundly arbitrary decision further deepens the erosion of human rights in Afghanistan, following decisions to restrict women and girls’ access to education and employment, limit their freedom of movement, and curtail their presence in public spaces, effectively entrenching the exclusion of women from public life,” said Ms. Throssell, the UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson on her comment8 on the dire situation in Afghanistan. Such conflicts and draconian limitations have forced many women and girls to flee their home country and cross international borders to seek refuge in the neighbouring countries, with the hope of getting back the security of life. They find their dwindling hopes of going home evaporate.
If we delve into the history, it can be seen that India has had historical and civilizational ties with Afghanistan and has been supplying humanitarian aid for decades. India, among other nation states and with a rich history of relations, friendships, and relevant UN resolutions with Afghanistan, has been the abode of a large number of refugees for a long time 5 Dianne Penn, Afghanistan: Taliban rule has erased women from public life, sparked mental health crisis. UN News, (last visited August 15, 2024)
6 Supra 2
7 Afghanistan: No future without women’s participation, UN News, available at
8 Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Comment by UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Liz Throssell on Afghanistan
in history. As one of the most significant and influential nations in South Asia, along with being one of the largest Asian contributors to Afghanistan over the past twenty years, India has a crucial responsibility in alleviating Afghanistan’s refugee crisis. Some Afghan women have managed to escape with the hope of safety and security.
OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE
This paper aims to highlight the present status of the Afghan women refugees who took refuge in India, the challenges, and the diminishing attention to their rights. The purpose is to conduct an extensive analysis of their current state of affairs. Socioeconomic circumstances, access to healthcare, education, work possibilities, and legal rights are just a few aspects of their life that will be examined in this study. We will also delve into the hardships faced by Afghan women and girls including access to healthcare, education, employment, and legal aid, and how they are adjusting to the new social and cultural setting and the vulnerabilities they could experience because of gender inequalities and being looked at as the ‘foreigners’ or as ‘aliens. ’ The legal framework governing the rights and protections of refugees in India, particularly women and children shall also be analysed.
Additionally, the study will also examine how international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and Indian government policies work to make the lives of Afghan women refugees more adaptable and secure and while doing so what are the drawbacks or faults in their services. It will also examine the role of international organizations and treaties in addressing the needs of refugees, with a specific focus on women and children. Lastly, this paper also aims to better understand their needs and experiences in order to help create policies and programs that will improve their well-being and help them integrate into Indian society and to propose policy recommendations to improve the conditions of Afghan women refugees in India, both at the government and societal levels.
Herein is involved a web of stakeholders and beneficiaries, each playing a crucial role in shaping the experiences and outcomes of the refugees.
STAKEHOLDERS
1. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
India has the UNHCR official presence in New Delhi and Chennai which functions to protect refugee communities under the UNHCR mandate. It plays a central role in assisting the Afghan refugees in India by adhering to the international standards. According to the UNHCR report dated 30 September 2024, there are currently 10,394 Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers9. It aims to secure access to healthcare, legal aid, and vocational training for Afghan women refugees. It also partners with various social and civil societies to provide services to support refugees and asylum seekers ranging from health and education to legal counselling, vocational skills, and livelihoods.
UNHCR through collective action with the local communities, like SilaiWali10, and Archisha11, as of the 2022 report12, provided a global initiative to promote female artisan refugees, for example, creating beautiful dolls from the waste of the fast fashion industry, traditional embroidery art to generate income and to provide for their livelihood. UNHCR issues refugee ID cards and other necessary documentation to enable them receive temporary residence permits, allowing them to rent places for residence and making them eligible for certain basic facilities. In certain cases, refugees get assistance related to the naturalization13 procedure. The only possibilities for a long-term stay are, unsurprisingly, for education (student visa) and health (medical visa), but the UNHCR-certified refugee status is also accepted as a valid reason for long-term stays.
This puts recognized refugees in a better situation than unrecognized refugees. Upon landing in India, the refugees have to register14 themselves with the UNHCR, after which a blue-coloured document proclaiming their status as a refugee is under consideration. This document, colloquially known as the “blue paper”, is called an under-consideration certificate. This is further followed by a refugee status determination “interview”, where refugees and asylum seekers have to demonstrate and defend their case and justify as to why should they be made eligible as refugees in India and be provided with the necessary protections. They have 9 India: Factsheet (2024), UNHCR India, (last visited Nov 1, 2024)
10 SLIC, (last visited Oct 01, 2024)
11 Archisha (last visited Oct 01, 2024)
12 What We Achieved in 2021, UNHCR India, (last visited Nov 18, 2024).
13 Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, § 6, Acts of Parliament, 2019 (India)
14 UNHCR India (last visited November 16, 2024)
to establish that there is a reasonable enough belief that they are at the risk of persecution and if they return back to their nation, they will be mistreated and oppressed.
2. Government
On 17 August 2021, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced a new category of electronic visa called the “e-emergency X-Misc visa” for Afghan nationals15 seeking emergency entry into India after the Taliban takeover. According to the Ministry of External Affairs report dated 09 December 202116, in a parliamentary inquiry before the Rajya Sabha, the government reportedly issued approximately 200 of these emergency visas. Refugees in the country receive the constitutional protections that were afforded to noncitizens17. In the field of education, India has continued its Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholarship scheme for the Afghan students. Since August 2021, ICCR has granted admissions to more than 3000 students, including 600 Afghan girls18.
In order to provide accessible educational opportunities to students residing in Afghanistan, ICCR has also started an online scholarship scheme in the current academic year for 1000 Afghan students in Indian Universities through e-Vidya Bharti portal. Of the total admissions under this scheme, 30% admissions were granted to female students.
3. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
In India, UNHCR works with several NGOs including Bosco, the SLIC, the Gandhi National Memorial Society, the Confederation of Voluntary Agencies and Development and Justice Initiative (DAJI), ACCESS among many others. Bosco Organization for Social Concern and Operation’s Refugee Assistance Program19 and others, collaborate with UNHCR to provide the necessary requirements to Afghan refugees, 15 Migration and Asylum Project (2022) 16 Government of India Ministry of External Affairs Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1355 on 09.12.2021, Indians stuck in Afghanistan, Answer Minister of State Shri V Muraleedharan,
17 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2023, India 2023 Human Rights Report, 39 https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/5282672_INDIA-2023-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf>
18 Government of India Ministry of External Affairs Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 183 answered ON
15.12.2023, India’s Relationship with Afghanistan, answer Minister of External Affairs (Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar)
19 BOSCO Delhi, (last visited Oct 01, 2024)
with a particular focus on women. For example, by conducting language courses, organising skill-building workshops, organising health camps, and community mobilization projects. These organizations also advocate for better legal recognition and protection for the women refugees who are often victims of gender-based violence or economic exploitation. SLIC (Socio-Legal Information Centre)20 provides pro bono legal services to refugees like legal counselling and assistance with approaching the police for filing cases on crimes having taken place in India, detentions, threat of deportation and for cases ongoing in Indian courts.
SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association)21 partners with government and civil society stakeholders in Afghanistan and India to train more than 3,000 Afghan women across five provinces in vocational skills including embroidery, garment stitching, food processing and jewellery-making, as well as in leadership and marketing. ACCESS Development Services, an NGO based in Delhi, partners with UNHCR in the global forum to bring about innovative works for sustainable livelihoods for the refugees living in Delhi and Mewat region. This NGO formed and initiated the "ILHAM Afghan Cuisine group" with Afghan Refugee Single Mothers in September 2015 (till continuing); supported in market linkages: conducted enterprise development trainings, helped them to form their small businesses in the country22.
4. Local Communities
Local communities, particularly in metropolises like Delhi, where many Afghan refugees settle, play a significant role. Some local residents and organizations show solidarity by offering support such as donations, volunteer work, or integration programs. For example, ARIA is a project for Afghan refugee women in Delhi23, an effort to amalgamate their traditional fine skills of crocheting, sewing, and embroidery, with the needs of the modern market.
20 Supra 10
21 SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association) (last visited November 17, 2024)
22 Rhema Mukti Baxter, How food has come to the rescue of Afghan women refugees in Delhi, 2016,
(last visited Nov 16, 2024) 23Samarpan Foundation, Women’s Empowerment: Malviya Nagar, (last accessed Oct 01, 2024)
A Delhi-based social organisation ‘SilaiWali’24, with the tagline “A stitch against waste. A
stitch for freedom” is one such initiative taken to support and financially empower Afghan women. This organisation is supported by the UNHCR and the Geneva-based organisation. The women employees here create rag dolls, pouches, purses, wall art, and hangings from upcycled waste fabric generated in excess from garment manufacturing units. Having started with just 10 Afghan women refugees, SilaiWali is now furnishing a livelihood to more than 70. In New Delhi, “Project Patradya”25, an initiative taken by Delhi students, engages Afghan women refugees to carve out a career for themselves working on what our planet needs the most today- fighting plastic pollution.
26 This project aims to hit two birds with one stone, on one hand to tackle with the global problem of plastic waste pollution, and on the other hand, to empower and help make better the lives of the Afghan women refugees in Inda, by employing them. The employees use healthy grains such as ragi, millet, and wheat to make a range of products including cups and bowls.
BENEFICIARIES
1. Afghan Women Refugees
The primary beneficiaries are Afghan women, who have fled the Taliban’s tyranny, seeking safety and freedom. They benefit from various forms of assistance so provided by NGOs, UNHCR, and local communities (as hereinbefore mentioned). Many of these women are single mothers or widows who are responsible for the financial and emotional well-being of their families.
2. Afghan Families
Alongside the women, their families also benefit from the support systems in place. Many Afghan women refugees have children, and through the education and healthcare services 24 Shivani Gupta, These Dolls Tell Their Stories’: How This Couple’s ‘SilaiWali’ is Empowering 70 Afghan Women Refugees in India, 2024 25 Lucy Plummer, A Community of Refugee Women Are Making Edible Cutlery to Tackle Delhi’s Plastic Waste Woes!,2017 26 Shweta Sengar, How Afghan Women Refugees In Delhi Are Helping Eliminate Plastic Waste From Their Host City, 2021, (last visited 14 November, 2024)
provided by NGOs and international organizations, their children gain access to schooling and medical treatment.
ISSUES
Afghan women refugees, despite getting the refuge they seek to escape the Taliban’s rule, face hurdles in India due to the lack of a formal refugee protection law by the state. I.
Non-existence of a formal Refugee Protection Law India is one of the remaining 44 liberal democratic member nations of the UN, not a signatory to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol27, which provides international guidelines for protecting people seeking refuge and outlining the global standards that signatory countries have for safeguarding the vulnerable populations facing oppression and displacement. The Refugee Convention defines “refugees” as people who “owing to a wellfounded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a specific group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his [or her] nationality, and is unable to or, as a result of such fear, is unwilling to avail himself [or herself] of the protection of that country.
” While historically India has provided sanctuary and taken in a mass influx of refugees from neighbouring nation states fleeing war or domestic conflict, it has no legal framework for dealing with refugees as a separate class. Reasons behind India’s reluctance to give its consent to the conventions lie in its efforts to prevent the economic burden, any changes in the demographics of the nation, and other security reasons. Reasons also lie in the efforts of India to remain neutral in the Cold War politics of that era and partially due to the Eurocentric approach to refugee protection formulated in the aftermath of World War II. Therefore, India lacks any specific legislation, or any national laws or policies for protecting and upholding the rights of refugees. It treats various refugee groups on an ad hoc basis.
India’s treatment of refugees has been entirely in keeping with the state’s interests, allowing the definition to determine who is included as a citizen of India. Due to this lack of a comprehensive refugee law for defining the status and rights of refugees in India, Afghan women like any other refugees in India, are legally categorized as “foreigners” 27 United Nations General Assembly & Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, (1951),
(non-citizens or aliens) under the Foreigners Act, 194628 and the Passport Act, 1967, which delays Indian law enforcement agencies from prioritizing their cases. This severely limits their access to legal protections and services. The lack of legal aid and awareness of rights further exacerbates the difficulties of Afghan women. They are unaware of the Indian laws, or their basic rights. India's Citizenship Act 1955, which outlined the conditions for acquiring Indian citizenship, did not provide a clear path for refugees to obtain citizenship. Without official refugee status, Afghan women are unable to secure long-term residency, employment, or even citizenship, keeping them in a state of legal limbo29. Interviews with Afghan female-headed refugee families and the reality of single girls fleeing persecution reveal a troubled refugee status determination process30. II.
Lack of proper “Identity” “Whenever we go to Afghanistan, they tell us ‘Oh you have come back from your country? ’ and when we are in India, we are asked ‘when are you going back to your country? ’ We are neither recognized as Afghans nor Indians – what can be more pathetic than this? ” said one of the Afghan refugees31. Although the refugees are provided identity cards issued by the UNHCR, these cards do not carry the same legal weight as documents issued by the Indian Government. However, residence is only the beginning of the story. Even registered refugees do not have access to certain basic rights, like right to employment and social security. Without proper governmentissued identity documents, Afghan women find it significantly challenging to access basic services like healthcare, education and other basic rights, leaving them apprehensive about their long-term future in India.
The conundrum of their ambiguous legal status leashes another problematic question which is the identity impasse. For these refugees, leaving Afghanistan meant giving up the whole
28 The Foreigner’s Act, 1946, § 2(a), ACT No. 31 (India)
29 Shah, M, Afghan Refugees in India Are Stuck in Legal Limbo. Foreign Policy, 2023, https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/07/06/india-afghan-refugees-unhcr-modi-politics-caa/ > (last visited November 01, 2024)
30 Rita Manchanda, Humans...‘Like Us’: Fallacies Of India's Ad Hoc Refugee Policy, 2023,
31 Narinder Singh (Afghan Sikh) cited in Anwesha Ghosh, “Longing to Belong: Afghan Sikhs and Hindus in India”, The Diplomat, August 19, 2016
‘Afghan’ identity because they did not foresee ever going back to their country. In interviews conducted by Aljazeera in New Delhi32, refugees claimed that on one hand they faced religious persecution in Afghanistan and on the other hand they confronted identity discrimination in India. This lack of identity is the chief reason they face an acute level of discrimination. Many of these refugees also, are originally Indians whose ancestors went to Afghanistan to work. While it is understandable that for the Government of India to provide citizenship through naturalization to all such people is not feasible, the refugees who have spent a reasonable amount of time in India while abiding by all regulations should be treated differently.
An Afghan refugee, in an interview had claimed that, “Indian citizenship is not just an official status for me, it is an ‘identity’ — which I have been missing all my life. ”33 In many cases, refugees and asylum seekers under UNHCR’s mandate reported increased obstacles to regularizing their status through long-term visas and residence permits34. It is complained by the refugees that the blue paper is practically of little to no value to them: it neither gets them a house on rent nor a functional sim card or bank account. “When we would show it to the authorities or anyone, they would often ask, ‘what is this thing, show your Aadhaar card,’” one of Afghan refugee women said. “The interview is a quasi-judicial process, it’s a judge passing a judgement,” Vijayaraghavan, former UNHCR lawyer and Chief Operating Officer of the Migration and Asylum Project, explained.
“In this you have to prove that you are at risk of persecution, which is a very high standard in law. So, if you don’t meet that standard, legally speaking, the UNHCR is not bound to recognise you as a refugee. I would say that things do get missed out. Often refugees are unable to present the elements of their case that would help them get recognised and one has to realise that when they come here, they’re quite traumatised. They may also be prone to being misinformed by others in the community; for instance, someone may tell them, say this and not that, it will help your case and so on. ”35 32 Srishti Jaswal, A Year after CAA, Refugees in India Still Waiting for Citizenship Aljazeera, December 11 2020. (accessed February 19, 2021)
33 Supra 30
34 Supra 16
35 Diksha Munjal, ‘I am dying everyday now’: Ethnic Afghan refugees in India struggle to access education, livelihoods’ (last visited November 15, 2024)
III.
Employment Restrictions and Gender-based Discrimination Due to their dubious and uncertain legal status, Afghan women refugees are barred from working in the official sectors. Under Indian law, refugees are not granted work permits, leaving Afghan women to rely on informal jobs, where they are frequently exploited, underpaid, and subjected to unsafe working conditions. Women are particularly vulnerable to gender-based discrimination in the informal work market, and their lack of legal status makes it difficult for them to challenge abuses or unfair treatment. Moreover, their inability to access formal employment perpetuates economic instability, affecting their ability to support their families and lead independent lives. Afghan women also face linguistic challenges, lack of financial resources, and cultural differences, making it difficult to effectively navigate the legal system.
Besides, gender dynamics and the socioeconomic difficulties Afghan refugees confront in India interact, increasing vulnerabilities and impediments to integration, especially for women and girls. Due to overlapping kinds of discrimination based on their gender, nationality, and refugee status, Afghan refugee women frequently experience barriers to healthcare, work opportunities, and education. The UNHCR claims that women and girls who are Afghan refugees in India are disproportionately impoverished and have few possibilities to participate in decision-making and achieve socioeconomic empowerment. Gender norms and cultural expectations impose additional limitations on the mobility and agency of refugees, so sustaining cycles of exclusion and gender inequity in these communities. IV.
Exclusion of “Muslim” refugee protection in the Citizenship Amendment Act, The amendment of the Citizenship Act 1955, in December 2019 was one of the measures that India took to reformulate its refugee policy. The CAA seeks to provide refuge and grant citizenship to the persecuted non-Muslim minorities immigrants (Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, and Parsis) from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, the three Muslim-majority countries, who have been living illegally in India. The amendment provides for a fast-tracked citizenship in six years (as opposed to the standard twelve years) to those who fall under the non-Muslim category from the three countries. In other words, the CAA considers religion as
one of the bases for determining whether one will get the state refugee protection. It prioritizes refugees of every religious group except Muslims as legitimate of a legal and formal protection. The argument goes that the CAA is meant to provide refuge and sanctuary to the persecuted “minorities”, and since Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh are Muslim-majority countries, Muslim refugees do not qualify for the formal protection from persecution. V.
Gender Based Violence Gender is a critical lens through which the status of Afghan women refugees in India is examined36. The Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 has been particularly devastating for women, who have fled the country in search of safety and autonomy. However, once in India, Afghan women continue to face numerous challenges related to gender-based violence, discrimination, and limited access to education and employment. Vijayaraghavan explained that when it comes to women Afghan refugees, the bulk of the UNHCR’s caseload is of domestic violence37. Typically, she explained, gender-based violence is not something which is given as a priority to get refugee status in any country. One has to prove that that the individual has gone through the courts in their respective country before seeking international protection outside the borders.
However, in Afghan cases, there is an argument that they don’t have a judicial system in their country which is fair to women, so going to their courts would not be of much use. Thereby they are unable to present the fact that they in fact have sought assistance before the courts of their nation prior to arriving before the Indian courts for protection.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The sources so examined, range from reports by international organizations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)38 to academic studies on refugee law, gender issues, and humanitarian responses. A significant body of literature highlights the absence of a formal refugee policy in India,
36 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), (2015). Age, Gender and Diversity - UNHCR
Accountability Report 2014, available at
37 Supra 35
38 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Global Focus, available at
(last visited 17 November, 2024)
thereby India treating the refugees on its own whim. The UNHCR plays a critical role in filling this vacuum by offering identification cards and facilitating access to certain rights, including education and healthcare. India has signed and ratified key international conventions to eradicate any form of discrimination against women including the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)39 which aims to end discrimination against women. India is also signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). During the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, India was instrumental in ensuring that gender sensitive norms were respected by changing the language from ‘all men are created equal’ to ‘all human beings are....
’ While, India has acceded to major international conventions, treaties, agreements, principles relating to international human rights law and has been a strong advocate in protecting the rights and dignity of all, including refugees, and recently, the country also agreed to the Global Compact on Refugees40; which is an offspring of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrant only showcases the sincere intention of the Indian Government to support, assist and guarantee basic minimal rights to the refugees pertaining to voluntary repatriation, the right to asylum and minimal standard of treatment etc. This might be first step in rethinking the state’s approach in handling the refugee influx.
India has shown a positive response by accepting the Global Compact on Refugees, which is a stepping stone to a much-needed change in the policy structure and the commencement of a discussion to develop a comprehensive domestic legislation for the protection of the refugees. Along with international cooperation and regularised assistance from all the pertinent domestic actors, India shall draft an extensive enactment to address the refugee issues. Even though India is not a party to the international instrument governing the refugees protection and asylum, it has actively contributed to the development and endorsement of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), which the United Nations officially endorsed on the 17 December 2018.
The affirmation of the GCR by India in light of the legislative vacuum demonstrates that India is prepared to implement uniform, fairer, and stronger course of action
39 NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, INDIA, Women’s Rights in India: An Analytical Study, in
The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), (2021)
40 Global Compact on Refugees
and procedure to accommodate and deal with large refugee movements and, consequently, to respect the principle of “burden sharing”. Another significant theme in the literature is the socio-economic challenges that Afghan women refugees face in India. Studies reveal that most Afghan refugees, particularly women, struggle with securing livelihoods due to the absence of work permits and the need to rely on informal sector. Women, often heads of households, face gender-specific barriers in the workforce, including lower wages and poor working conditions.
SUMMARY OF SUBMISSION
Therefore, after realising the various issues and challenges so faced by the Afghan women refugees in India who fled here with the hope of finding light at the end of the tunnel again and be able to start life anew, we may propose some policy recommendations to improve the conditions of Afghan women refugees in India, both at the government and societal levels. But Afghan women are doubly discriminated. Taliban have barred them from high school and university education, banned them from working in government offices, local and international NGOs, and put serious restrictions on their movement. These are major violations of basic human rights. And GoI too has expressed concerns about these developments.
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
To THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
1. To become a signatory to the Status of Refugee Convention (1951) and its 1967
protocol. Article 1 of the Convention provides for “a well-founded fear of persecution”, that the refugees have a reasonable likelihood or fear that they will likely be persecuted if they went back to their nation. The Taliban takeover over the Afghan governance and the draconian restrictions and violations of women and girls there serves as a “well-founded reason” for their fear to go back to Afghanistan. By signing and ratifying the 1951 Convention, it will become obligatory for India to protect the refugees within their territory. Article 33 of the Convention also provides for non-refoulment, considered as the cornerstone of the convention. It means a refugee cannot be returned or expelled to a country where there
is reasonable belief that they will face serious threats to their livelihood and freedom “on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion”. Presently, India not being signatory, does not consider itself legally bound by the principles laid down in the convention. If India signs and ratifies the convention, the Afghan women refugees and others included would get international status as refugees who took sanctuary in India and would get an equal amount of protection and safety according to international standards. It will stand out as numerous advantages in dealing with the changing situations of new refugees.
2. To adopt a National Refugee Law.
The Indian legislation should provide a predictable legal framework to remove the legislative gap so present. The only legislation relevant to international migration was the Foreigners Act of 1946 and the Passports Act of 1967, which govern the entry, stay, and exit of foreigners (defined as non-citizens). Unfortunately, these laws give wide powers to detain and deport foreigners for illegal entry and stay, and accord no differential treatment for refugees, thereby making them, too, vulnerable to detention and deportation. Without the existence of a separate codified refugee law in the territory of India, refugees in India will continue to face arbitrary or ad hoc treatment which is purely based on the national interests, geopolitics and religion.
India’s treatment of refugees has been highly uneven with some communities getting more favourable treatment and others simply tolerated but not expelled. By adopting such a municipal legal framework for refugees, it will allow the global nation states to view India as a nation State which provide refuge, sanctuary and asylum to the vulnerable on humanitarian grounds and not purely on political preferences. Moreover, there should be a standard legal definition and status of the term “refugee” and differentiate the same from terms like “immigrants”, “foreigners” or “aliens”. Such domestic law shall provide for registering and resettling the refugees. It will also help in providing basic protection rights to them because the “rights” so now provided by India are merely the “benefits or privileges”.
3. Institute a VISA regime for the women at risk
To review the revocation of valid visas of thousands of refugees. India had introduced only the
‘e-Emergency X-Misc Visa’41 owing to the fall of Kabul and the prevailing security situation. An estimated 60,000 Afghans had applied for the same in 202142, but by December of that year only 200 such visas were issued. As a well-wisher of Afghan people and a credible stakeholder in Afghanistan’s development, India must extend this lifeline to Afghanistan’s women and girls and rescue them for a dreadful destiny. India can also provide for a fast and hassle-free process for procuring long-term visas (LTV).
4. Extend equitable humanitarian assistance to the “Muslim” women of Afghanistan
The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, although it has been extended to provide citizenship to the other religions, is “anti-Muslim”, the Muslim women and girls who are also in the same dire situation as any other Afghan Sikh, Buddhist, or Christian women are currently. The same and equitable humanitarian assistance should be extended to the ‘Muslim’ section of the affected women population, keeping aside the religion-biased mindset.
5. To induce the Taliban to end ‘gender apartheid’ in Afghanistan through collective
action India should, as one of the most influential nation states in the Global South, play a multifaceted role to induce the Taliban to relax their strict and inhuman gender apartheid policies. It can have a bilateral dialogue with the regime, as to the importance of women’s rights and focus on the negative impacts that their policy will have on Afghanistan’s stability and development.
India through collective action should demand that the Taliban immediately reverse all policies and practices that restrict the full enjoyment of women’s human rights, in accordance with Afghanistan’s international obligations, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and to make sure that women’s rights are looked upon and maintain full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of diverse Afghan women in all discussions peace negotiations and decision-making processes of international communities about Afghanistan’s future. 41 Press Information Bureau, Government of India, Owing to prevailing security situation in Afghanistan all Afghan nationals henceforth must travel to India only on e-Visa,
42 ANI, 60,000 Afghans waiting to come to India through newly launched e-visas, 2021, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/migrate/60000-afghans-waiting-to-come-to-india-through-newlylaunched-e-visas/articleshow/86618152.cms?from=mdr > (last visited 15 November, 2024)
6. Keep the Afghanistan crisis on the agenda in multilateral forums.
India should advocate for women's rights in Afghanistan within international forums like the UN and G20, building global pressure on the Taliban drawing more attention to the increased risk of violence against women and girls under the Taliban's rule. To the UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR)
1. Investigate delays and challenges in Refugee Status Determination (RSD)
process UNHCR India should make sure that there is no further delay in providing the status of ‘refugee’ who has the reasonable fear of being persecuted from their nation, and also recognise gender-based persecution or gender apartheid as grounds for status determination of the Afghan women refugees. As of now even having UNHCR-awarded refugee status therefore does not provide refugees with sufficient protection because a lack of recognition of their documentation means they cannot always access health care, education or other basic rights. UNHCR should thereby ensure that the ID cards and the ‘blue-paper’ so provided during the registration as a ‘refugee’ has a status that is legally recognised by the State authorities and acceptable by all, whether while approaching to rent a residence or providing for any work.
And in case of any dismissal of the RSD, protection to be provided to the refugees.
CONCLUSION
This paper has comprehensively examined the status of Afghan women refugees in India, throwing light on their experiences and challenges in the face of displacement and adversity. The analysis has delved into various facets of their lives, including their socio-economic conditions and calls for greater attention to the plight of Afghan women refugees and also attempts to recommend policies that will help to promote their well-being, empowerment, and integration into Indian society. There is a rather complicated picture of Afghan women refugees in India. While on the one hand, they have been welcomed with open arms and being given safe place by some in many municipalities, still they also face significant obstacles in navigating their new reality in the new nation.
Restricted work opportunities, cultural obstacles, socio-economic difficulties hamper the women’s self-sufficiency and livelihood. The psychological trauma of
displacement, severe curtailing of their human rights and the uncertainty surrounding their future increase their burdens, having an impact on their mental health and overall well-being. In spite of all the barriers, Afghan women refugees show incredible determination and perseverance. They continuously strive to search for ways to rebuild their lives, pursue education and employment, and contribute to their communities. They engage in community initiatives and advocate for their rights. Their resilience and unrelenting optimism serve as a testament to their strength and their unwavering hope for a better future. Afghan women refugees continue to look for opportunities to change the current circumstances, get an education as well as work and cherish the chance to serve the society.