"We don't know how we can find a way to save our lives," H says. Her pleas for asylum have so far gone unanswered by authorities and agencies, and her student visa runs out this year. Everyone knows us. The Taliban are just killing the people that they want. She fears Taliban attacks against her family, as recrimination for her gender and human rights advocacy. She's now stranded, facing poverty, and unable to financially support her eight family members back home. The scholarship payments she and other overseas students received through Afghanistan's Ministry of Higher Education were halted. "I couldn't talk to any person because I was just crying," she says. When the Taliban seized power in August, she went into a state of shock. H is finishing her Masters of Science degree at a university outside of Afghanistan, majoring in biotechnology and biomolecular science. Her ambition is to do a PhD. The acting higher education minister in the Taliban's new all-male government, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, has announced that women will only be permitted to attend segregated classes, must adhere to strict dress codes, and not be taught by men.Īfghan people are left to reassess the lives they built when they believed they would be free. Afghan girls and women locked out of educationĭuring Taliban rule between 19, girls were banned from education. "Female scholars, educated women … are facing a version of a civil death". "We are getting a large number from female scholars and women who work in civil society, who have embraced the vision of a forward-looking Afghanistan over the last 20 years," Mr Quinn says.īut now that vision is shrouded in darkness. It's been inundated with over 900 requests for assistance from Afghans since the Taliban takeover in August, compared to a total of 500 requests worldwide last year. Scholars at Risk is a global network of universities, organisations, and individuals who help persecuted scholars and promote academic freedom. "It's really on a scale that I don't think has been seen in the higher education community since World War II." Rob Quinn, executive director of Scholars at Risk, says the situation for academics and other civil society leaders in Afghanistan is extremely dire. Girls in Herat, the third-largest city in Afghanistan, stage a demonstration demanding to continue their education in schools and universities. Little did they know that they would soon be driving an evacuation mission to save the lives of T and 10 of her colleagues. One of our Monash students said, 'I'm in my bedroom in Melbourne debating something that's theory for me, but for this girl in her bedroom in Kabul or in Herat, it's not theory. "They've become deeply, emotionally involved." Professor Jacqui True, the centre's director, says the first live debate attracted 12,000 viewers, and the effect on participants in both countries had been profound. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, in Australia, a group of scholars watched on in horror at the events in Afghanistan.ĪPT had co-hosted online debates with students from Monash University's International Affairs Society and the Monash Gender, Peace and Security Centre, since 2019. "How can claim that I'm not part of the religion? It was not acceptable for me. I understand what Islam is saying, but they don't want me to work. T's group, Afghans for Progressive Thinking (APT), had already closed its social media accounts to protect the identity of their young participants, but rejected accusations that its work was anti-Islamic. Those inside Panjshir Valley insist it cannot be captured and that is a movement for the future of Afghanistan.
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