The US Agency for International Development Agency can be a “death penalty” for Afghan women who are studying abroad
A group of more than 80 Afghan women fled from the Taliban regime to study in Amman says they are at risk of imminent deportation to Afghanistan after canceling their US -funded grant as part of the Trump administration’s discounts to foreign aid.
The students received an email on February 28 to inform them that the scholarship program run by the United States Agency for International Development at the Middle East College in Amman has been completed with thousands of other external relief initiatives, according to the e -mail obtained by NBC News.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for suspension. It was the ordeal of Afghan students BBC mentioned for the first time.
In a letter to help groups, Afghan women are calling for urgent help to allow them to continue their studies abroad and avoid returning to a country, they say, will face some persecution and life threats.
“The situation is catastrophic,” says the message. “Re -sending it to Afghanistan means the permanent loss of our education and its exposure to severe risks, including persecution, insecurity and the future without opportunities. This is the situation life or death for many of us.”
Afghan students were pursuing university studies and graduate studies in Amman under female scholarship gifts, and it is one of the many programs that were eliminated in the Trump administration’s efforts to expand the American Agency for International Development significantly.
Foreign Minister Marco Rubio said on Monday that 83 % of the US International Development Agency programs were canceled after a six -week review and that the remaining programs will be combined into the Foreign Ministry.
“Please do not let our dreams crashed and the Taliban decides our destiny,” says the student’s message. “We have fought hard to get out of their hands, and we will not live anymore if we have to return to Afghanistan.”
The scientists program was launched in 2019 with a worth of $ 50 million from the United States Agency for International Development, according to Bianyan, the deputy legislative director of Honor, a non -profit group that works with the veterans of Congress from both parties in the initiatives of the two parties. Lu, who was moderated by the United States Agency for International Development, said that the interest from the endowment covered the cost of the program, which was run by the US Agency for International Development, without the need for additional annual financing from the US government.
He said that non -profit groups are taking place with the Amman government to try to resolve the situation.
“What we are trying to avoid is their return to Afghanistan, which would be functionally promoted to the death penalty for these women who were helped by the United States in pursuing higher education opportunities,” she said.
While the Afghan students ’message said that 83 women were affected, if they now look more than 120 Afghans, they were funded for scholarships.
Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 after the withdrawal of the United States -led forces from Afghanistan, they re -imposed Drakon’s restrictions on women, including prohibiting high schools and higher education, and banning them from most employment and reducing freedom of expression and movement, according to human rights groups.
Representative Seth Molton, DC, said that canceling the scholarship program was “shameful” and called on the Trump administration to reflect the path.
He said in an email: “The Trump administration believes that it is politically useful to determine the villain of the US International Development Agency, but the Americans should realize that it is behind the contracts that were canceled and the demobilization of collective workers is now an innocent life.”
“In this case, these young women can receive the east with the world in front of them, which could reach the death penalty within days-as soon as they were relying on a US-funded grant to obtain their education abroad.”