The Supreme Court orders the transfer to Spain of eight Afghan aid workers to whom it offered protection before the return of the Taliban

The Supreme Court has issued a ruling requiring the Spanish ambassador in Pakistan to promote the urgent transfer to Spain of eight Afghan citizens, relatives of a collaborator of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development in Afghanistan, so that they can submit an application for international protection, granting them the corresponding visa. The Supreme Court thus upholds the appeal of these people against the order of the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid that refused to agree to these precautionary measures, after the Spanish Embassy in Pakistan, a neighboring country to Afghanistan, denied them transfer to Spain for that purpose. .

The ruling emphasizes that there is a commitment from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to these people, based on the documentation provided. That ministry – the resolution explains – “has validated that these people need and have the right to be urgently transferred to our country.” The reason is that they are persecuted “because of their link with the main applicant and their relationship with Spain.” And it is added that “they were under the protection of the Government of Spain”, so that “all the appellants should currently be in our country”, and in fact “they should be since August 2021”.

The ruling – of which Judge Ángel Arozamena has been the speaker – highlights the “relevant impact” in the resolution of this case of the existence of a safe conduct granted in August 2021 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after the serious events recorded in Afghanistan on those dates, after the Taliban entered Kabul. Through said safe conduct, the appellants were declared under the protection of the Spanish Government, stating that the purpose of the document was to allow them to leave their country of origin for Spain.

“The appealed Administration – the ruling states – considers it proven – at that time – that the appellants are persecuted by the Taliban due to their connection – at least of the head of the family – with the Spanish authorities. The appealed Administration assumes and recognizes the serious danger to his life. The safe conduct certifies that the public interest consists in these people being transferred to our country so that they can request the protection of the Government of Spain. Despite the time that has passed, the appealed Administration cannot now disassociate itself from its own act.”

“It cannot be ignored,” the Supreme Court insists, “the existence of safe conduct, although it does not have a strictly automatic effect, but it cannot be ignored that these people saw their right to fly to Spain recognized at the time and that the rest of the family members, whom they This right of transfer was recognized (…) then they were granted refugee status and the right to asylum.” The resolution explains that the Spanish Embassy itself in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, has assumed jurisdiction over this type of transfers and, in addition to the resolution rejecting the request of the aforementioned appellants (who are brothers and other relatives of the Afghan aid worker) , issued others upholding the requests regarding other family members closest to him, who specifically were his daughters, wife and father.

The Supreme Court highlights that the Spanish Embassy in the Russian Federation in Moscow also ruled on this matter at the time, where the main applicant had escaped, fleeing Kabul through Uzbekistan at the end of August 2021. Thus, in October, said Embassy decided to promote the transfer to Spain of said person to make it possible to present the asylum application.

About him fumus boni iuris (“appearance of good law”) that must be analyzed to grant this type of precautionary measures, the ruling indicates “that safe conduct is a firm administrative act, presumably valid and executive. This administrative act, which recognizes the rights of the appellants, has never been reviewed ex officio or declared harmful.” He adds that in addition “the requested precautionary measures do not interfere with the normal functioning of the Public Administration. The transfer of the appellants to Spain is so that they can present an application for international protection. Its result is not conditioned. The Asylum and Refuge Office and the Interministerial Asylum and Refuge Commission will adopt the corresponding resolution.”

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