Afghan women, who fled Taliban, face horror of returning home after freeze on USAID fund
The students who fear that their return to Afghanistan will crush their dreams, have urged the international community to intervene
Over 80 women from Afghanistan, who fled the Taliban regime to pursue higher education in Oman, now face the horrifying prospect of returning home and seeing their dreams crushed, following the Donald Trump administration’s move to discontinue funding for their scholarship under US Agency for International Development (USAID), the BBC has reported.
Scholarships provided to Afghan women under USAID to study in Oman were abruptly discontinued after Trump ordered a freeze on certain aid after he returned as president in the US.
Calling it a “heart-breaking” development, an Afghan student told BBC that she and other students have been told that they will be sent back within two weeks.
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“Everyone was shocked and crying,” she told BBC.
Women’s rights, draconian laws
Even since it took control, the Taliban has banned education for girls and women beyond Class 6 and the age of 12. Hundreds of women, once working in top sectors, have been forced to quit their jobs and confined to the four walls of the house. Women are allowed only in certain jobs like healthcare.
While the Taliban restricts women’s presence in public spaces like amusement parks and gyms and mandates them to travel with a male ‘guardian’, last year the country’s Vice and Virtue Ministry enacted laws banning women to speak in public spaces.
Afghan women’s appeal
The women who face deportation in Oman told BBC that they have urged the international community for urgent intervention. They say that preparations are afoot to send them back to Afghanistan.
“We need immediate protection, financial assistance and resettlement opportunities to a safe country where we can continue our education,” one student told BBC in a mail sent to inform about the latest development.
The women had been pursuing graduate and post graduate courses under the USAID programme named Women’s Scholarship Endowment (WSE) which began in 2018.
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The programme provided scholarship to Afghan women to pursue studies in STEM discipline which are banned in Afghanistan.
Students fear grim future, backlash
The women, most of them in their 20s told BBC that they were informed that their scholarship has been discontinued two weeks ago.
“It’s like everything has been taken away from me…it was the worst moment. I’m under extreme stress right now,” BBC quoted another student as saying.
The students had qualified for the scholarships in 2021 before the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan. Many had continued their studies in universities in Afghanistan until December 2022 when the Taliban banned higher education for women. The women said, after a lull, they fled to Pakistan in September 2024 following which USAID facilitated their visas to Oman where they arrived between October and November 2024.
“If we are sent back, we will face severe consequences. It would mean losing all our dreams,” a student told BBC.
The student said that while their families may force them to get married as they wouldn’t be able to continue studies, many would be at risk of backlash from the Taliban due to their past affiliations and activism.
Also read: Taliban suspends higher education for Afghan women
Taliban’s Women’s Day message
Meanwhile, the Taliban on the occasion of International Women’s Day on Saturday (March 8) asserted that Afghan women live in security with their rights protected.
“In accordance with Islamic law and the culture and traditions of Afghan society, the fundamental rights of Afghan women have been secured,” Taliban’s chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said on his X account without making any reference to Women’s Day.
"However, it should not be forgotten that the rights of Afghan women are being discussed within an Islamic and Afghan society, which has clear differences from Western societies and their culture," he said.
Mujahid statement came even as the United Nations urged the Taliban government in Afghanistan to lift the bans curtailing women’s freedom.
"The erasure of women and girls from public life cannot be ignored. We remain committed to investing in their resilience and leadership, as they are key to Afghanistan's future," said Roza Otunbayeva, the head of the UN mission in Afghanistan.