Natkai, a 20-year old Afghan student, says that after the Taliban closed universities for women she was only left with one hope: a scholarship to help her study abroad.

Natkai has had her name changed to protect her.

The Taliban has repressed women who are against them.

Natkai said she continued to study despite the fact that there were few chances of her attending university in her home country.

Sheikh Khalaf Ahmed Al Habtoor, a billionaire Emirati businessman, then granted her a scholarship for study at the University of Dubai (UAE).

Scholarships for Afghan women will be announced in December 2020, after the Taliban banned women attending university.

According to the BBC, 100 Afghan women were successful in receiving these scholarships. Some Afghan students who live abroad have already traveled to Dubai.

Natkai left her family on Wednesday, 23 August and headed to the airport.

But her hopes were soon dashed.

She tells me with a broken voice, “When Taliban officials saw our tickets, they said that girls are not allowed leave Afghanistan on student Visas.”

Travel Stopped

Natkai was one of 60 girls turned away at the airport.

BBC photos show young girls in black hijabs and headscarves standing with their luggage, in a state shock and destruction.

The Taliban have banned women from traveling alone and allow them only to travel abroad with a man they know, such as their husband or a relative male companion, like a brother or uncle, or father. This male companion is known as mahram or male escort.

Even this is not enough.

Natkai says that three girls with mahrams were in the plane. “But officials of the Vice and Virtue Ministry took them off the aircraft.”

The other students were afraid to speak to the media.

We’ll call him Shams Ahmad. He accompanied his sister on her trip to the airport, and described their distress.

The scholarship brought new hope to my younger sister, after all the universities in this country were closed. “She left with hope and came back in tears,” says he. “All of her rights have now been removed.”

Mr Ahmad claims that some women had even borrowed money for a companion male to accompany them, but they were still stopped.

Some of these girls look so poor and helpless. The foreign ministry has asked for 400 Afghanis (5 PS4 or $4) to verify their documents.

The University of Dubai, Mr Al Habtoor and the Girls’ Stopping Committee have confirmed that the girls were stopped.

Mr Al Habtoor has posted a video in English to X (formerly Twitter). He criticizes the Taliban authorities in it and says that men and women are equally equal under Islam.

The video contains a voice message in English by an Afghan girl stopped at the airport.

She says, “We’re in the airport right now but the government won’t let us go to Dubai.” “Even those with a mahram are not allowed to go.” I don’t even know what to say. “Please help us.”

International Reaction

The latest Taliban attack has caused dismay among diplomats and rights groups.

Heather Barr, Human Rights Watch says: “This is a significant and alarming step that goes beyond the extraordinary cruelty that the Taliban have already engaged in by denying women and girls education.”

This is holding them captive to prevent other people from helping them learn.

Shkula Zadran is the former youth representative of Afghanistan for the United Nations. She has posted an appeal to the university, urging them not to give up the girls.

The Taliban has not released any clarification or statement.

BBC reported that the Vice and Virtue Ministry spokesperson, Mohammad Sadiq Akif Muhajir was unaware of the incident.

Zabihullah Mojahid, a senior Taliban spokesperson, declined to comment as well, stating that he was traveling and had no information.

Natkai has a depressed mood.

She was just about to take her university entrance examination after she graduated high school, when the Taliban came to power on 15th August 2021.

Natkai believed she had discovered a way to pursue her dreams. She claims she doesn’t have anything to say to Taliban, because “they do not accept or respect women”.

She urges the world to not abandon Afghan girls and their education.

I missed this chance in a place where being a woman is illegal. I am very sad, and I do not know what I will do next.