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Afghan refugees accuse Holland of sending them to hell
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By
Khaled Shawkat, IOL Holland Correspondent
AMSTERDAM,
October 8 (IslamOnline) - A Dutch court upheld on Monday 7, a decision
by the Justice Ministry on deporting an Afghan asylum seeker.
This
verdict poses a threat to 5,000 Afghan refugees who were not given the
political asylum status in the country.
The
ruling was welcomed by the Dutch government.
Speaking
at a press conference, Dutch Immigration and Integration Minister
Hilbrand Nawijn said that the major part of Afghanistan has become a
safe place after the installment of Hamid Karzai's government and
therefore there is no justification for accepting more Afghan refugees
in Holland.
Over
the past ten years, 30,000 Afghans have been granted political asylum in
Holland and they enjoy legal stay in the country.
The
U.N. Higher Commission for Refugees appealed to Afghan refugees in world
countries, especially Iran and Pakistan, to return home and resume their
lives.
Speaking
to IslamOnline, several Afghan asylum seekers in Holland contradict
reports claiming that Afghanistan is a safe place.
Abdel
Karim Azari, an Afghan engineer who applied for asylum in the early 90s,
dismissed as sheer allegation talks about Afghanistan being a safe
territory.
Karzai's
government, practically speaking, does not control except the capital
Kabul, he said, adding that sovereignty over the rest of the country
falls into the hands of worrying militias making life a risky
experience.
Abdullah
Daffari, an Afghan asylum seeker since 1999, asserts that 90 percent of
Afghan land is planted with mines.
No
one in Afghanistan believes that Karzai's government will be able to
achieve stability and security in the country in the near future, he
said, accusing the Dutch of sending them to hell.
Shahrazad
Mokilly, an Afghan widow who came to Holland two years ago with her son
after losing her husband in war against Taliban, shrugs off the idea of
returning to Afghanistan.
She
recalls trying to return home several times from her shelter in Pakistan
but each time she discovered that reports about stability in Afghanistan
were lies.
