From Afghanistan to France: A Route Strewn with Pitfalls
- Salomé Cohen
- Jul 1, 2024
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 27
On 15 August 2021, the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan. The ‘Apagan’ operation initiated an airlift that successfully evacuated approximately 2600 Afghans to France. However, two weeks later, the airlift operations concluded, leaving a considerable number of the remaining 40 million Afghans trapped within the confines of Afghanistan.
Since then, numerous Afghans, compelled by threats related to their profession, gender, or opinions, have been forced to either hide or flee. Those who manage to escape often find themselves stranded in neighbouring countries such as Pakistan, Iran, or Turkey, struggling to survive in precarious conditions. Among them are families yearning to reunite with a spouse or child in France, single women grappling with uncertainty, children, judges, journalists, and activists—all seeking refuge from a country they no longer recognize or one that no longer recognizes them.
Limited Legal Routes to France
In light of the challenging circumstances faced by Afghans, there are very limited safe and legal routes available for them to reach Europe. Regardless of the process, visa applications must now be submitted in a neighbouring country since nearly all European consular authorities are closed in Afghanistan.
For foreign nationals to enter France legally, a short- or long-stay visa is required. However, Afghans fleeing their country for an indefinite period must secure a visa allowing them to stay for at least three months. It is only with these long-stay visas that they can apply for asylum or a residence permit upon arrival in France.
Long-stay visas for France can be sought on various grounds such as family, education, profession, or humanitarian reasons, but they are only granted if specific conditions are met. These conditions are often impractical to fulfil, especially when the applicant’s country of origin is in the midst of a humanitarian or political crisis. Consequently, the opportunities for Afghans to obtain French visas are significantly constrained.
The objective of this contribution is not to provide an exhaustive list of theoretically available legal paths for all foreign nationals but to examine those actively utilised by Afghans to reach France. Practical barriers such as linguistic, financial, or administrative reasons largely exclude visa applications related to professional activities or studies due to the stringent conditions they impose. For example, it is practically impossible for a non-French-speaking Afghan engineer to secure a work permit for a French company remotely, a prerequisite for obtaining an ‘employee’ visa.
