LONDON: A group of female trainee doctors from Afghanistan have traveled to Scotland to complete their medical degrees after being forced to abandon their studies by the Taliban.
It follows a three-year campaign by the parents of slain Scottish aid worker Linda Norgrove, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2010, The Guardian reported on Wednesday.
The Linda Norgrove Foundation pushed for the 19 Afghan female students to receive safe passage to Edinburgh and free university tuition. They arrived in the UK on Tuesday.
John and Lorna Norgrove said the women had “in effect been confined to their homes” in Afghanistan since the Taliban took power in 2021.
Through their foundation, the Norgroves worked with officials from the UK and Scottish governments to help the Afghan medical trainees.
John Norgrove praised the cooperation between the UK and Scottish governments on the project.
“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,” he said.
The women have been given places at four medical schools in Scotland, and were granted domestic student rights.
A number of legal and bureaucratic challenges were overcome during the campaign, including organizing English-language tests and hosting university entrance interviews on Skype.
The Afghan students traveled to the UK via Pakistan, where they applied for visas for both countries.
In Pakistan, they were required to apply for UK student funding, bank accounts and accommodation.
The foundation spent about $80,000 in bringing the students to Scotland.
One of the students, Omulbanin Sultani, said in a statement that the foundation “had saved our lives in every sense of the word. It fills me with immense pride and joy to stand here today on this beautiful day.
“But let me tell you, being here was not as easy as these words make it seem. We endured a thousand days of suffering to reach this point.”
Another student, 19-year-old Zahra Hussaini, described arriving in the UK as a “dream,” but said she hopes that by the time she completes her studies, it will be safe to return to Afghanistan.
Hussaini had completed her first year of medicine when the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan.
“Our journey here will be long enough, maybe for eight years, nine years, and I think during this time many alterations and changes will come to Afghanistan,” she said. “I am hopeful that the situation won’t remain the same.”
