afghanistan: young male 'westernised' returnees to kabul

Endorsed and peer-reviewed by the Asylum Research Centre (ARC) Foundation and the Dutch Council for Refugees, Asylos has compiled this country-of-origin information (COI) research report on the situation of young male ‘Westernised’ returnees to Kabul, Afghanistan. This report was compiled to meet an increased demand by legal representatives who are representing young Afghan asylum seekers in Europe. These asylum seekers have spent their teenage years in Europe and are denied a new form of protection after turning 18 on the basis that the security situation in Afghanistan has improved and that return to or internal relocation to Kabul will be both reasonable and relevant. Our report serves to counterbalance a general lack of understanding and lack of country information about the relevant issues at stake and contribute with this report to a more informed debate about the situation of young ‘Westernised’ returnees to Afghanistan. It is also intended as a tool to assist legal practitioners and to help ensure that decision-makers consider all relevant material.

PLEASE NOTE: This report was cited in the January 2018 UK Home Office Country Polcy and Information Note (CPIN) Afghanistan: Afghans perceived as ‘Westernised’. Whilst Asylos welcomes the Home Office’s use of our research to inform its refugee status determination processes, it is our assessment that in this case the information which has been selected from the Asylos report, the manner in which it has been summarised, and the conclusions drawn based on this analysis, do not accurately reflect the findings contained within the report as a whole. We would therefore like to draw attention to our comments on the HO Afghanistan CPIN. 

Do you have comments or feedback on our report? We would love to hear it! You can submit it here, inserting the case reference number AFG2017-05.

Please note that this report was researched by us on a pro bono basis. In order to be able to produce more reports of this format, we need your support. If you have found this resource useful, please consider supporting us by making a donation.

Image: Marcia Chandra