Netherlands can't deport Iraqi girls after instilling gender equality values: EU Court

The Netherlands cannot deport two Iraqi teenagers after instilling the genuine belief that men and women are equal into them during the years they lived in the country, the European Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday. According to the court in Luxembourg, it is plausible that these young women will face persecution in Iraq over the norms and values they learned in the Netherlands during their formative years.

The two Iraqi girls have been staying in the Netherlands continuously since 2015. After the Dutch authorities twice rejected their asylum applications, they took the matter to court. The Dutch court asked the European Court of Justice to weigh in.

The young women argued that during their long stay in the Netherlands, “they have adopted the norms, values, and conduct of young people of their age in that society.” Should they return to Iraq, “they would be unable to conform to the norms of a society which does not afford women and girls the same rights as men.” They fear persecution as a result of the identity they have formed in the Netherlands, they argued.

The European court ruled in favor of the Iraqi women, referring to the Directive on international protection, which stipulates that refugee status must be granted in cases where third-country nationals would face persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership of a particular group.

“The Court holds that women, including minors, who share as common characteristic the fact that they genuinely come to identify with the fundamental value of equality between women and men during their stay in a Member State may, depending on the circumstances in the country of origin, be regarded as belonging to a particular social group,’ constituting a ‘reason for persecution’ capable of leading to the recognition of refugee status,” the court said.

The court ruled that a long stay in a Member State is a valid consideration when assessing an application for international protection based on feared persecution, especially when that stay coincides with a child’s formative years.