Afghan women students in Oman face expulsion after Trump’s USAID freeze
More than 80 Afghan women who fled the Taliban for higher education are now facing impending deportation back to Afghanistan after the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid programs.
Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), their scholarship was suddenly terminated after Donald Trump froze the frozen funds when he returned to his office in January.
“It’s really heartbreaking,” a student told the BBC. “Everyone was shocked and wept. We were told we were going to be sent back in two weeks.”
Since regaining power about four years ago, the Taliban has imposed severe restrictions on women, including prohibiting them from entering colleges.
U.S. aid funds allow thousands of Afghan women to study abroad or continue online education, but many of these plans are now suspended.
The Trump administration’s aid freeze faces legal obstacles, but thousands of humanitarian programs around the world have been terminated or in danger as the White House tries to reduce billions of dollars in government spending.
Oman students said preparations were already underway to return them to Afghanistan and called on the international community to “emergency intervention.”
The BBC has seen emails sent to 82 students notify them that their scholarships have been discontinued due to the termination of funding from the program and the United States Agency for International Development.
The emails – acknowledging that the news would be “disappointing and disturbing” – refer to a travel arrangement back to Afghanistan, which triggered an alarm from students.
One person told the BBC: “We need immediate protection, financial aid and placement opportunities in a safe country where we can continue our education.”
The media contact page of the USAID website remains offline. The BBC has contacted the U.S. State Department for comment.
Afghan women now facing forced return in Oman have been pursuing graduate and postgraduate programs under the Women’s Scholarship Fund (WSE), a USAID program that began in 2018.
It provides scholarships for Afghan women to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), a discipline for women prohibited by the Taliban.
Just a week ago, the students were told their scholarship had been fired.
“It’s like everything was taken from me,” another student told the BBC. “It’s the worst moment. I’m at extreme pressure right now.”
These women (most in their 20s) received scholarships before the Taliban occupied Afghanistan in 2021. Many people have been studying at universities in Afghanistan until December 2022 when the Taliban banned higher education for women.
After staying in Limbo for 18 months, they said they fled to Pakistan last September.
USAID then promoted their visa to Oman, where they arrived between October and November 2024.
“If we are sent back, we will face serious consequences. This means losing all our dreams,” one student said. “We will not be able to learn and our families may force us to get married. Many of us may also face personal risks due to past affiliation and activism.”
The Taliban has cracked down on women protesting education and work, and many activists have been beaten, detained and threatened.
Afghan women describe themselves as “corpses” under the regime’s cruel policies.
The Taliban government said it has been working to address women’s education but has also defended its supreme leader Diktats, saying they are “compliant with Sharia Law”.
“Afghanistan is experiencing gender segregation, and women systematically exclude women from their basic rights, including education,” one student said.
She and her friends in Oman have managed to escape this fate, as these scholarships should fund their education by 2028.
“When we came here, our sponsors told us that we would not return to Afghanistan for vacation or visit our family until 2028 because it was not safe for us. Now they told us to go.”
Last month, Deputy White House Press Secretary Anna Kelly blamed the situation of Afghan women on the evacuation of the U.S. military under the Democratic Party, telling the Washington Post: “Afghan women suffer because Joe Biden’s disastrous evacuation led the Taliban to implement medieval Islamic legal policies.”
The decision to cut US aid funds belongs to the Trump administration and is implemented by Elon Musk’s Ministry of Efficiency.
These women face a grim future, urgently seeking lifeline before time runs out.
Other reports from Aakriti Thapar
