WHT Alumna Shabana Basij-Rasikh raises concern over UK Visa brake

Shabana Basij-Rasikh - Afghan educator, humanitarian and co-founder of the School of Leadership, Afghanistan (SOLA) - recently appeared on the BBC Today programme, where she raised concerns about the UK government’s decision to pause study visas for applicants from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan, as well as work visas for Afghans.

Born in Kabul, Shabana experienced first-hand the barriers to girls’ education under Taliban rule, at times disguising herself as a boy to attend school. She later continued her education in the United States and went on to found SOLA, the first all-girls Afghan boarding school, now operating in Rwanda and expanding its reach globally through its online platform, SOLAx. Through her work, Shabana continues to advocate for access to education and opportunities for Afghan girls worldwide.

All of us at WHT were deeply saddened by the UK Government’s decision to impose a ‘visa brake’ on student visas for nationals of Afghanistan, Sudan, Myanmar and Cameroon. We are actively working to explain the impact on affected applicants and will continue to seek a dialogue on this issue. Professor Ngaire Woods and Aziz Magid from Oxford have also commented in The Guardian on the government’s decision to halt these visas, highlighting concerns about its impact on access to opportunity and global talent. The colleges Mansfield and Somerville have issued a joint statement on the emergency brake.