Afghan students learning in UK urge Government to grant them depart to stay
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fghan students learning within the UK beneath a Foreign Office scheme say they’re dwelling in worry of being pressured again into Taliban clutches.
The present cohort of Afghan Chevening students says they’re caught in limbo and face the opportunity of having to return to Afghanistan after their commencement in September or as soon as their visas expire.
The Home Office initially acknowledged that the scholarship was not a pathway to resettlement and that students ought to comply with the usual Chevening coverage of returning dwelling or to a 3rd nation.
What ought to I do? Where ought to I am going? Should I simply turn into stateless and homeless on the similar time after September?
But the Home Office has now indicated that students can apply for an additional UK visa, such because the graduate route, or think about claiming asylum.
Three of the 17 Afghan college students from the 2022/23 yr advised the PA news company about their struggles with panic assaults and worry of persecution on account of the Government’s coverage.
One stated that even when they had been granted a graduate visa, they’d nonetheless be vulnerable to deportation after two years.
Afghan Chevening students already within the UK in 2021 and 2022 had been granted indefinite depart to stay.
The Chevening scholarship programme gives research at UK universities – largely one-year grasp’s levels – for college kids with potential to turn into future leaders, choice makers and opinion formers.
The students agreed to talk to PA on situation of anonymity, as a result of issues for his or her security and the security of their households nonetheless in Afghanistan.
One of them, who’s specialising in worldwide human rights regulation, stated: “I am having panic attacks thinking about what exactly is going to happen.
“After September, I will have no accommodation, it is difficult to get a job without a visa. What should I do? Where should I go? Should I just become stateless and homeless at the same time after September?”
Another scholar, who’s learning accounting and finance, stated he was made conscious that the scholarship was not a proposal of resettlement however was “hopeful” issues would return to regular in Afghanistan by the point he graduated.
He added: “There is no possibility of going back to my country … I don’t want to put myself and my family in danger.
“We should be treated in the same way as the previous cohorts and be granted leave to remain indefinitely.”
A 3rd scholar, who’s learning administration of knowledge methods, stated he was despatched an electronic mail from the programme in early June, telling him to e-book his flight again dwelling.
He described it as a “hard moment”, including: “Since then, I have not been able to concentrate on my studies.”
After having repeatedly requested for “clarity”, the students stated Chevening had knowledgeable them on the finish of June that they might be exempt from the requirement to return to Afghanistan because of the expiration of their visas of their nations of residence on the time of accepting the scholarship.
A Government spokesperson stated: “We understand the situation in Afghanistan, and are therefore providing a letter of consent to current scholars whose visas in other countries have expired or will expire, allowing them to apply for another UK visa.
“This will exempt them from the normal requirement to leave the UK on completion of study.”
The Home Office additionally made clear that if somebody had come to the UK legally, and circumstances of their dwelling nation modified, such that it was now not secure for them to return dwelling, they may declare asylum.
After the Taliban seized energy in 2021, the Government programme solely provided the scholarship alternative to Afghan nationals dwelling exterior their dwelling nation and this was the case for the three students, who fled to neighbouring nations after the takeover.
One of the students stated: “The third country, which the Home Office says we should consider going back to … there are peculiarities in our situation.”
She added: “Right now, India is not giving any type of visa for Afghans. And if I do get a temporary visa, I go there, I stay for one or two months and after that, I have to go back to Afghanistan.
“A girl who is single, who has done human rights law in the UK, under the UK Government scheme, who has worked with international forces, I would be persecuted, I would be hanged in front of everybody.”
All three of them additionally insisted that claiming asylum could be a foul choice, with one noting that the typical ready time for an preliminary choice on an asylum case could possibly be between one and three years, throughout which era they’d not be capable of work and would probably be positioned in a resort.
Moreover, in keeping with the students, making use of for a graduate visa, because the Home Office steered, would deliver monetary challenges and probably depart them with no choice however to return to Afghanistan as soon as it expired.
Ministers should finish their debilitating quagmire and grant depart to stay within the UK, because the Home Office did for the scholars who accomplished their research final yr
One scholar stated: “The problem, for instance, with the graduate visa is that it has a very high fee, and I don’t think many of the Chevening scholars would be able to pursue that route.
“But even if I manage to borrow some money, it is only for two years. I want to be assured that after this period, I wouldn’t be forced to leave.”
Another added: “If I get a visa and after two years, for some reason, I cannot get a sponsored job, I will definitely be deported or either I will be deported or I will have to apply for asylum or … I don’t know what happens in two years.”
Labour’s Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark), an MP representing one of many students, advised PA that Chevening students had been “the best and brightest”, including: “Ministers must end their debilitating quagmire and grant leave to remain in the UK, as the Home Office did for the students who completed their studies last year.”