Female medical students travel to Scotland to evade Afghanistan’s Taliban education ban

Medical students from Afghanistan have arrived in Scotland to continue with their degrees, after the Taliban’s rise to power in their home country saw women and girls banned from having an education.

A group of 19 women, who are all studying to become doctors, landed safely in Edinburgh despite a last-minute drama in which two of them were initially prevented from getting on the plane.

Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans female secondary and higher education.

A crucial intervention by UK consular staff in Islamabad in Pakistan – where the women were flying from – allowed them all to travel to Scotland, where they will now continue with their studies.

Some students were emotional as they arrived at Edinburgh Airport on Monday, where they were met by John and Lorna Norgrove – the parents of Scottish aid worker Linda Norgrove, who died in Afghanistan in 2010.

The charity set up in her honour, the Linda Norgrove Foundation, has worked with both the Scottish and UK governments to bring the 19 young women to the UK so they can complete their courses.

Omul Banin Sultani is to study a pre-medical course at the University of St Andrews.

She has wanted to be a doctor “from a young age”.

She said: “The universities were closed to girls. We had our studies paused about two years in. I cried the whole night. I had a goal to help poor people.

“We are so thankful for the Foundation. They are so kind.

“They were comprehending our situation was not good and that we deserved this. They paid for our fees in Afghanistan. They have done everything for us.

“If you want something from the deep down of our heart, and try for that, all the world will help you in that way.

“One day I can be called doctor – that’s the best thing in the world. My family are so happy and proud.”

Cahra Hussaini is studying a pre-medicine course at the University of Glasgow.

She recalled the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021 – when “everything changed” for girls and women.

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She said: “We were supposed to finish the second semester of medical students at university but suddenly the Taliban announced that girls cannot go to university anymore. After that, there was no school, university or workplace where I could study or work.

“In addition to education and work, there were other limitations. We couldn’t wear what we wanted. The places we wanted to go, if there are pools or parks, amusement places, we couldn’t go there. It was all for men and boys.

“All we could do was be at home or go to friends’ or relatives’ homes.

“I didn’t want to be a girl. They gave us the feeling that being a girl is some kind of crime. if I was a boy, I wouldn’t experience this condition.

“But my family helped me be brave and strong in that situation and use that time to help myself personally and professionally.”

Cahra spent time at home studying online courses and practicing her English at home to get her scholarship with the Foundation.

She describes John and Lorna Norgrove as her “second parents.”

“As much as I love my own parents, because of Mr and Mrs Norgrove, I may now have a good future,” she added.

“I’ve come here and I will now be far away from my family. But for the best of my ability, I will show them I deserve to be given this opportunity. I am so thankful.”

Scotland Office minister Kirsty McNeill and Scottish education secretary Jenny Gilruth were at the airport, along with Mr and Mrs Norgrove, to meet the women as they came off the plane.

The handshakes and hugs there marked the end of two years of effort by the charity and the two administrations.

Prior to arriving in Scotland, all the students had to undergo TB tests, English tests, and completed university interviews via Skype, before travelling to Pakistan, where they applied for visas to travel to the UK.

Speaking after they landed in Scotland on Monday, Mr Norgrove, said: “We’re all delighted to have finally succeeded after so much frustration.

“Finally these 19 incredibly talented young women get their future back with the opportunity of a tremendous education and a career. The alternative for them in Afghanistan wasn’t good.”

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The Linda Norgrove Foundation has covered all the costs of getting the students to the UK, costing the charity – a small organisation with only one employee – a minimum of £60,000.

Mr Norgrove added: “Our heartfelt thanks go to all of our supporters, the politicians, civil servants and university staff who have made this possible.

“It’s been particularly heartening at a time of such division to see the UK and Scottish Governments working together to achieve such a positive outcome for these women.”

With both the Scottish and UK governments involved in the effort to bring the women out of Afghanistan, staff at the Scotland Office worked to ensure they had the necessary visas to allow them to travel first to Pakistan and then on to the UK.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government changed regulations, so that although the women have travelled on international student visas, they are not required to pay the fees that are charged to most international students who come to Scotland to study.

Gilruth said that “very technical changes” to regulations were laid in the Scottish Parliament earlier this year to achieve this.

She added: “It’s a very technical change to the regulations we have made, this is pretty bespoke to this group of women because we recognised the need.

“We also recognised the danger to their lives, that is why we put in place these changes to bring them here safely.”

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Speaking about the situation the 19 students had faced in their home country, Gilruth said: “Fundamentally the women’s ability and their right to learn, we know in Afghanistan they were unable to learn and we in Scotland have a view on that.

“We don’t support that approach, we want to help women learn, we want to help them to reach their potential.”

Gilruth said she was “really pleased” the governments, together with the charity, had been able to find a way to bring the women to Scotland.

Scotland Office staff meanwhile arranged for the women to stay in the Cargilfield private boarding school in Edinburgh, where with the term starting later than in most Scottish schools, there was plenty of room for the students to stay.

Online retailer Amazon meanwhile has also provided welcome packs for them, so they have the essentials needed when they move on to their new universities.

McNeill paid tribute to Linda Norgrove, who was taken hostage while working in Afghanistan before being killed during a rescue operation in 2010.

The Scotland Office minister said it had been “incredibly emotional” to welcome the students to Scotland.

She added: “The reason they are in Scotland in particular is because of the incredible foundation, the Linda Norgrove Foundation set up in memory of a Scottish aid worker killed in Afghanistan.

“Their family came together after her death to support women in particular in Afghanistan, women and children and the wider people of Afghanistan and part of honouring her legacy and her commitment to humanity was helping these women come here to Scotland.”

McNeill continued: “The UK Government, in particular the Scotland Office has been working with the Scottish Government and the family of Linda Norgrove through their foundation, we have helped make sure that people will be able to get visas, to make sure they get practical support so they get a fantastic welcome in Scotland, and I know their universities and the communities that surround them are waiting with open arms for these women to continue their education.”

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