A number of Afghan female students, who were relocated to Doha, Qatar, through a U.S.-supported educational program after the fall of Kabul, are now at risk of deportation.
According to Radio Canada, following the cessation of U.S. financial aid, around 30 Afghan female students in Qatar face an uncertain future.
The University of Regina and a human rights organization are working to secure funding to relocate these students to Canada. Fariba Rezaei, Executive Director of Tomorrow’s Women Leaders in Vancouver, stated:
“When U.S. support was cut, Afghan girls were effectively left stranded and helpless in Qatar.”
Under a new initiative, the plan is to raise $500,000 to relocate 30 Afghan students to Saskatchewan, Canada, allowing them to continue their education and live safely.
Nilab, one of the students who has been studying computer science in Qatar since 2021, said:
“Returning to Afghanistan for me and my sister would mean death. If we go back to Kabul, we would be arrested, tortured, and killed immediately.”
She recalled that on the day Kabul fell, she was at a bank to get her sister’s passport when no taxi driver would take her home without a male guardian. At the time, Nilab was a student at the American University of Afghanistan, and her father worked with the U.S. government. But with the Taliban’s return to power, their lives were shattered.
This situation reflects the plight of dozens of Afghan women who remain stranded in various countries after four years of Taliban rule. Returning to Afghanistan exposes them to severe threats and extreme restrictions.
Since the Taliban regained control, Afghan women and girls have been denied basic rights, including education, work, freedom of movement, and social participation. It has now been 1,429 days that girls above the sixth grade have been barred from attending school under Taliban rule.
