The lives of Afghan students studying in Qatar have been thrown into turmoil following the Trump administration's withdrawal of support, heightening fears of returning to a country under Taliban rule, where their rights and education are endangered.
Afghan Students in Qatar Fear Return Amid U.S. Aid Cuts
Afghan Students in Qatar Fear Return Amid U.S. Aid Cuts
Students at the American University of Afghanistan in Qatar face an uncertain future as they grapple with the implications of U.S. aid and visa cutoffs, fearing a return to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
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When Nilab, a student at the American University of Afghanistan in Doha, struggles to concentrate, she pins her worries to her dorm wall, a technique learned in a mental health seminar. It’s a coping mechanism that carried her through tumultuous times after the Taliban’s takeover in 2021. Today, in her Qatari dorm room, those worries are multiplying due to the recent cessation of U.S. foreign aid and refugee admissions.
Having fled Afghanistan in July 2023, Nilab fears a forced return to her native land, where her education and human rights as a woman would be jeopardized. “How can girls go back to Afghanistan?” she anxiously wonders. “What will happen to us? Rape, forced marriage, and death.”
The situation escalated on January 20, when former President Trump enacted an executive order halting refugee resettlement. This decision came as Nilab was immersed in her cybersecurity studies and left her dreams of reuniting with her family, who were granted asylum in the United States after the U.S.-backed government fell, in shambles.
As students like Nilab confront an uncertain path ahead, the landscape of educational opportunity for Afghan girls is shadowed by despair. They fear that instead of empowering futures, they may soon revert to a perilous reality under a regime that blatantly undermines their rights.
When Nilab, a student at the American University of Afghanistan in Doha, struggles to concentrate, she pins her worries to her dorm wall, a technique learned in a mental health seminar. It’s a coping mechanism that carried her through tumultuous times after the Taliban’s takeover in 2021. Today, in her Qatari dorm room, those worries are multiplying due to the recent cessation of U.S. foreign aid and refugee admissions.
Having fled Afghanistan in July 2023, Nilab fears a forced return to her native land, where her education and human rights as a woman would be jeopardized. “How can girls go back to Afghanistan?” she anxiously wonders. “What will happen to us? Rape, forced marriage, and death.”
The situation escalated on January 20, when former President Trump enacted an executive order halting refugee resettlement. This decision came as Nilab was immersed in her cybersecurity studies and left her dreams of reuniting with her family, who were granted asylum in the United States after the U.S.-backed government fell, in shambles.
As students like Nilab confront an uncertain path ahead, the landscape of educational opportunity for Afghan girls is shadowed by despair. They fear that instead of empowering futures, they may soon revert to a perilous reality under a regime that blatantly undermines their rights.
