A three-year-old campaign by the parents of an aid worker killed in Afghanistan has brought 19 trainee doctors to Scotland.
After being forced to stop their studies by the Taliban, a group of Afghan trainee female doctors traveled to Edinburgh to complete their medical degrees.
The 19 women landed in the UK on Tuesday following the three-year efforts by their parents of Linda Norgrove, a kidnapped Scottish charity worker who perished during a failed rescue attempt by US special forces in 2010.
The Linda Norgove Foundation, founded and run by her parents, John and Lorna, from their home in Uig, Western Isles, stated that the students had been effectively confined to their homes in fear for their lives since the Taliban reclaimed power.
The foundation collaborated with UK and Scottish government officials to secure safe passage and student visas for the women. They have also been accepted into four medical schools after Scottish officials amended the rules to consider them as home students eligible for free tuition.
It stated that great effort had been put into overcoming the legal and regulatory put into overcoming legal and regulatory barriers to bring them to the United Kingdom, including organizing English language tests and university interviews via Skype.
It then negotiated their trip to Pakistan to apply for UK and Pakistani visas, biometrics, student funding, UK banks, and student accommodation. The total cost amounted to £60,000.
Many of these women’s students lived in Kabul, but some traveled from remote areas, including Bamyan and Daykundi. They flew to the United Kingdom from Islamabad, Pakistan.
In a statement released by the foundation, one of the students, Omulbanin Sultani, stated that the Norgroves and their helper “had saved our lives in every sense of the word” by assisting them during the previous three years.
“It gives me with great pride and joy to stand here today on this beautiful day,” she said. “But let me tell you, being here was not as easy as these words make it seem. We endured a thousand days of suffering to reach this point.”
Another student, Zahra Hussani,19, had completed her year of medicine when the Taliban reclaimed power. She described her arrival in the UK as a dream. She expressed her hope that it would be safe to return home by the time she qualified.
She stated, “Our journey here will be long enough, maybe for eight years, nine years, and I think many alterations and changes will come to Afghanistan during this time.” “I am hopeful that the situation won’t remain the same.”
John Norgove said it was encouraging that the UK and Scottish governments had collaborated so closely on the project.
He stated, “Finally these 19 incredibly talented young women get their future back with the opportunity of a tremendous education and a career. The alternative for them in Afghanistan wasn’t good.”
Linda Norgrove, 36, was working for the US charity Development Alternatives Incorporated when the Islamist terrorists in Kunar province kidnaped her in September 2010. Her death, which was killed by a US fragmentation grenade thrown during the rescue attempt, caused concerns in the United Kingdom, prompting both countries to conduct a joint investigation.
