An Afghan woman who risked her life defending human rights in her home country has been allowed to stay in the UK after a Home Office U-turn.

The Guardian previously reported on the case of Mina*, whose asylum claim was rejected by the Home Office despite her high-profile work in Afghanistan. She worked for western government-backed projects and was involved in training and mentoring women across the country, which put her in grave danger even before the Taliban took over in 2021.

Home Office officials had said in their refusal letter: “It is considered that you do not face a real risk of persecution or harm on your return to Afghanistan on the basis of your claimed adverse attention by the Taliban.”

Mina’s lawyers lodged an appeal against the refusal but before the appeal was heard the Home Office sent a new letter granting refugee status, saying: “We accept you have a well-founded fear of persecution and therefore cannot return to your country, Afghanistan.”

Mina said she was thrilled about the government’s change of heart. “I had been living in sorrow for a long time,” she said. “But now, good news has finally come, and it has overwhelmed me with joy and happiness. The word ‘freedom’ immediately popped into my head – a freedom to move forward with my life in the UK, a freedom which is taken from millions of Afghan women.”

Her solicitor, Jamie Bell at Duncan Lewis, said: “I am delighted that Mina has finally been granted asylum. She is an astonishingly kind and brave women who never should have had her clear right to asylum doubted for one second.

“It is essential for the home secretary to confirm that all Afghan women are entitled to asylum to ensure that horrendous mistakes like Mina’s case do not happen again.”

The initial refusal of Mina’s claim comes at a time that the asylum grant for Afghanistan has fallen dramatically from a rate of 98.5% in the last quarter of 2023 to 36% in the last quarter of 2024.

According to freedom of information data shared with the Guardian in 2022, 77 appeals against Home Office refusals of Afghan asylum claims were lodged in the immigration court. In 2024 that number jumped to 3,293.

“The fall in the grant rate will not lead to an increase in removal action,” Bell added. “The UK does not acknowledge the Taliban and does not have an agreement to return anyone. The consequence of this startling policy change is that thousands will remain in limbo for years, unable to work whilst their cases are decided by the overburdened court system.”

In a separate case, the Home Office has granted a visa and agreed to fly to the UK a woman who worked to counter violence against women in Afghanistan. She has spent most of her time in hiding since the Taliban takeover of her country.

Mia Lucy Forton, a caseworker at Duncan Lewis, said: “For over three years, our client has lived under the constant threat of detection by the Taliban. Despite the encroachment on the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, she has remained unwavering in her commitment to advocate for the rights of women in her country.

The Home Office has been approached for comment.

* Names have been changed