The applicant, Afghan national, was rejected asylum by decision of 13 April 2021, because SEM considered that the reasons invoked by the applicant do not fulfill the requirements for being granted refugee status, precisely the attacks by the Taliban against civilian population and forced recruitment of adolescents can not be regarded as targeted acts of persecution as provided by art. 3 of the Law on Asylum. Concomitantly, a return order was issued against the applicant.

The applicant appealed against the negative decision and alleged that various country of origin reports mention a risk of forced recruitment by the Taliban of Afghan children, adolescents, and men. The FAC reiterated that a person is eligible for refugee protection when there is a well-founded fear of forced recruitment by the Taliban. On the argument related to the duty of investigation of SEM, the FAC held that the events, namely sexual harassment was one-off incident and that SEM informed the applicant of the possibility to be heard by a male or female, whereas the applicant replied that it makes no difference to him. The FAC noted that according to the applicant’s statements and the evidence available, there is no proof that he was invited or targeted by the Taliban for forced recruitment, nor he is at risk of being targeted in the future in his place of origin. For these reasons, the FAC rejected the appeal against the negative decision. With regard to the return order, the FAC held that due to unreasonable nature of the expulsion order based on the situation in Afghanistan, the applicant shall be granted provisional admission.