zahir July 17th, 2007
- Refugees sent to Taliban areas
- Many of the Afghan refugees who have been forcibly returned come from areas which are terrorised by local warlords, and that are now also being attacked by the Taliban. The local representatives of the UNHCR in Kabul have confirmed that these are unsafe areas which are impossible to go to, says Zahir Athari, spokesperson for the Afghan Refugee Committee in Norway.
Wednesday it was decided by a Grand Committee of Immigration Appeals Board that two refugees who come from unsafe areas in Afghanistan are allowed to stay in Norway. The reason given is that it is too dangerous to return refugees to other areas of Afghanistan where they have no family network. At the same time, the director of the Immigration Appeals Board, Terje Sjeggestad, emphasised that the decision would not have had any bearing on the cases of refugees that have already been returned. The reason being that these refugees come from safe areas, and that their return to Afghanistan is conditioned on their repatriation in their district of origin.
- UNHCR says area unsafe
Four representatives for the refugees who participated in the Asylum March met with a local representative of the UNHCR in Kabul on Sunday July 8.
- We also think that this area is unsafe. But this is not our decistion. It is a Afghan governmental team report and decides what are safe and unsafe areas. And then we recongnise it, the UNHCR representative told the refugees.
- These have to be sensational information for the Norwegian public in light of the fact that Norwegian authorities have always emphasised that they follow the advices of the UNHCR. Now we have confirmation of what we have always suspected, that the advices that the Norwegian authorities really base their decisions on, is in reality provided by the Afghan government which is full of war criminals with a need to portray themselves and their government in a favourable light, emphasises Zahir Athari.
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admin June 2nd, 2007
Here you can watch a music video from Nabi Dilnawas, who participates in the Asylum march. The song is in Dari, and the title is “Chara Gosh Ba Harfi Jahil Kadi To”.
admin June 1st, 2007
Otta, 01.06.07
10-15 Afghan asylum seekers at Trandum
Even though the war in Afghanistan is increasing, even though we are marching the pilgrimage route from Trondheim to Oslo, to inform the people about this war and our needs for protection, the hunt performed by the Norwegian police after Afghan asylum seekers is continuing.
Last week eight Afghan asylum seekers was deported. Currently there are between 10 and 15 Afghans in the asylum prison at Trandum at Gardermoen (Oslo Airport). Several of these participated in the hunger strike in 2006. According to the plan they will be deported this week.
We ask those of you who still care about human values and believe in the right to live, to try to rescue these people from being sent back to a wartorn country.
Afghan Refugee Committee, Zahir Athari
WWW: www.asylmarsj.no
Zahir Athari: 417 48 088
admin May 31st, 2007
Here you can watch and listen to news on NRK (Norwegian television) regarding the Asylum march:
Norge i dag - 29/05
Østnytt - 29/05
Opplandsnytt (radio) - 29/05 13:03
admin May 29th, 2007
During the trip, we send pictures directly from mobile phone. Currently they are only avaliable on the Norwegian part of the page, but you can click here to view them.
admin May 18th, 2007
100 Afghans following the pilgrimage route
“Don’t send us back to the war”
Afghan refugees are spending every night in fear. Fear of this night will be the day my home is in the Police’s list. Fearing that my friends bed will be empty the day after. Just as our home, the safe is not safe either; our excistence, our being and our body belongs to the hidden.
We came to Norway after fleeing from war and persecution in our home country. We ask from you, people of the peaceful and safe Norway, to let us stay here. Until it is safe to return to Afghanistan. This is our hope. A hope we still carry, even though the responsible government has broken all their promises. When the hungerstrike was ended in June last year, the government promised everyone an equal treatment of the cases, where the guidelines from UNHCR should be taken in consideration. This has not been the case, Norwegian government is sending us back to the war: Since the hungerstrike, about 150 Afghans has been deported by force. At the same time, we see that the government allows the we war they want to send us back to, is getting worse.
In fear of being the next, many of us is now living a hidden life, fleeing in and from Norway. About a hundred of us will walk a march from Trondheim to Oslo. Our path will be the old pilgrimage route, and our prayer this: Don’t send us back to the war.
We will start this march in Trondheim on Saturday the 19th, where we will take part of the demonstration against the dropping of the Obiora case, at 14:00. We will then walk from Trondheim at 16:00 and end our march in front of the Norwegian Parliament in the end of June. We hope that many will join us in parts of the march, and take part of events along the route, and take part in the discussion about what point of view Norway should have to the gruesome war in our home country. Does the Norwegian people think it is right to send people back to war? Again we reach out our hand, and hope that the Norwegian politicans will listen to the UN’s guidelines which is saying it is not safe to deport refugees back to Afghanistan.
18th of May, 2007.
Afghan Refugee Commitee
For further information, please contact Zahir Athari, phone number: 417 48 088
admin May 18th, 2007
Tomorrow a large number of Afghans will begin a long journy. The starting point is Nidarosdomen in Trondheim, and they will walk the pilgrimage route to Oslo. The distance is about 650 kilometers.
You can follow the progress at Asylmarsj.no, with regular updates, pictures and information.
More information will be posted later today.