Application for reopening the appeal pertaining to our Refugee status.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I, Ms. __________ and my family comprising, Master ___________ (Son), Miss ___________
(Daughter) and Mr. _____________ (Husband) had come to Delhi from our native country
Afghanistan in the year _____ due to a well-founded fear of being persecuted.

We entered India on the strength of our Afghan Passports, and stamped Indian Visas, in the year
_____, and approached your good office to seek asylum on Indian soil, due to the fact that we were
unable to avail ourselves of the protection of our native country and as such we had registered our
asylum claim on ________ before your good office. This claim got rejected at first instance on
_______________. Thereafter we lodged an appeal application which got rejected on
_____________ and was finally closed.

During this rejection of the appeal and closure of the matter with your good office, my family,
including my husband, ____________, my 13 year old son - Master ___________, and 11 year old
daughter - Miss _______________, had been detained in custody since the __________________
in connection with _____________ Police Station Case No. ___________ dated ___________. At
the time of arrest we had been on this land legally by virtue of the Under Consideration Certificate
issued by your good office which was valid till ________________.

While in detention, my mother and sister, who have been residing in the United Kingdom, and have
been granted asylum there, came over to India, and ran from pillar to post to try and bail us out of
jail. However, my children, my husband and I continued to languish in custody over a period of 90
days, when on ___________, my husband and I were finally released on bail by the Learned
Additional Sessions Judge, at ____________. Thereafter, on ___________, the Learned Principal
Magistrate, Juvenile Justice Board, ___________, was pleased to release my children on bail as well,
on the strength of the order passed by the Learned Additional Sessions Judge at __________. We
underwent extreme difficulties, in the deplorable conditions that prevail in the Indian jails, or atleast
the one we were kept in. Furthermore, my children were also detained in custody, and kept in their
respective juvenile homes. It would also be pertinent to mention in this context that my son, Master
______________, underwent severe torture and sexual harassment, at the hands of certain
convicted individuals, who continue to reside at the juvenile homes, despite them having reached
adulthood long back, and such trauma has left __________ in a state of shock, for which he is now
being required to visit a psychiatrist for treatment and recovery.

However, during our detention in custody, the appeal pending before your good office was
unfortunately closed and also that we had no scope of renewal or apply for extension of the said
Under Consideration Certificate (hereinafter referred to as UCC). It would also be pertinent to
point out that our appeal before your good office was closed, only after it came to your knowledge
that we had been detained in custody. I would like to humbly state herein that laws, rules,
procedures exist for the sole purpose of dispensing justice to the people, and it is from this inherent
sense of justice that the law makes out an individual to be innocent, unless proven guilty as per law.
Unfortunately, this basic principle was not adhered to in our case, and simply on the basis of the fact
that my husband, my children and I had been detained in custody, in connection with the
aforementioned case, your good office decided to close our appeal, without any further
consideration, in contravention of settled principles of law, and natural justice.

As previously mentioned hereinabove, ______________, the Learned Additional Sessions Judge, at

_______________, after considering all aspects of the case, was pleased to grant bail to my husband
and myself, on ____________. However, it so happens that in the present circumstances, after
being released on bail by the concerned court we are not in a position to leave the country without
the permission of the Court. At the same time we are devoid of any other document pertaining to
our valid stay in India. Returning to Afghanistan would be nothing short of committing suicide as
our fear for life still exists, as would be evident from the fact that the last time my mother went to
Afghanistan, in the year _______, in order to try and attempt to locate us and figure out our
whereabouts, she was attacked by the Taliban, and a serious attempt on her life was made, which she
thankfully survived and managed to escape.

We firmly believe that the UNHCR, as an organisation, is committed to the cause of refugees
around the world, and we therefore are seeking respite before your good office, as we have nowhere
else to go in these circumstances. It is humbly stated that as per the articles of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, every human being is afforded the right to asylum in a different
country, if such human being is under the fear of being persecuted in his/her home state, by way of
undemocratic, immoral and internationally unlawful means.

In these circumstances, your good office was pleased to close our appeal, on ___________, and
close our case, while we were detained in custody, without providing us the basic opportunity to be
heard, or allowing us to place our side of the story before the concerned authorities at your good
office. The universal principles of natural justice command that every human being has the right to
be heard before any decision is taken with respect to him/her, before an authority bound by law.
The UNHCR, being a body of the United Nations, is bound by the covenants of Public
International Law, and therefore closing our appeal before your good office, on ___________,
without affording us the right to be heard, was in contravention of such universally accepted
principles.

In addition to the abovementioned facts and circumstances, I would like to reiterate that we have
been released on bail by the concerned court of law, but at present we do not have valid documents
for our stay within the country, and it is only the UNHCR who can provide us with any solution in
that respect. It is most unfortunate that we have been forcibly turned into illegal aliens within the
country, simply due to the fact that our appeal was closed by your good office, without affording us
the opportunity to be heard, and place our story before you. We have the utmost faith in the legal
system of India, and it is one of the main reasons that we chose to seek this country for asylum, as
India is renowned in the world for its values of peace and secularism and hope that such values and
principles, that the this country is known for, will not be let down in this case.

Hence we request the UNHCR to reopen the appeal and revalidate the UCC as lately the applicants
were granted bail and are now residing in ____________.

Your Kind assistance and cooperation in the matter would be highly appreciated.

Thanking you,

Yours truly,

_________________________