The initiative seeks to provide safe havens for Afghans at risk with the links to Slovakia.
Safety for Afghans is the initiative of Slovak NGOs Human Rights League and Mareena and has been funded immediately upon the fall of the Afghan Republic and takeover by the Taliban. Our aim is to provide safe havens for Afghans with links to Slovakia who are at risk and to establish legal pathways to reach safety, preferably in Slovakia.
At the beginning, the initiative focused on collecting names and details on persons at risk and providing these to the Slovak government with the aim to facilitate direct evacuation through Kabul airport. Upon the end of evacuation on 31 August 2021, we have been focusing on providing individual assistance to close relatives of Afghans residing in Slovakia and to students.
In December 2021, the Slovak Office of the Public Defender of Human Rights recognized the outstanding achievements of the initiative in the field of human rights protection.
More information on current assistance and on legal pathways specifically for Afghans aiming to reach safety in Slovakia are available at the Slovak version of this website. If you want to receive new updates and be on our mailing list, or you are seeking assistance or advice, please let us know through email at: afghanistan[at]hrl.sk Please note that due to large number of requests it may take us some time until we reply to you.
The video from webinar on legal pathways for Afghans is available here:
Since 1 April 2022, Slovak governmet opens new options how to apply for national visa to arrive in Slovakia, which will apply to highly skilled migrants, including Afghans.
In accordance with Regulation No. 521/2021 Coll., it is in the Slovak Republic´s interest to grant a total of 3000 national visas to highly qualified third-country nationals in 2022. The regulation specifically applies to three groups of foreigners:
- graduates of Slovak or Czech universities who hold master´s degree minimum
- graduates of one of the universities listed here (available only in Slovak)
- graduates or postgraduates who will be employed on one of the positions with high added value for the Slovak´s economy listed here ( available only in Slovak) ( you may apply for a national visa granted in the Slovak Republic´s interest even if you are a graduate from a university, which is not listed in number 2, however, in this scenario, you are eligible to apply only for those job positions that have high added value for the Slovak´s economy - your national visa will include a specific code of job position you choose from the list when you submit your visa application)
In the case you are interested to explore the option of applying for national visa, contac us at afghanistan[at]hrl.sk