The ladies from Afghanistan who fled to pursue their education overseas.
This week has seen the return of school for many people in the UK. However, the Taliban continue to forbid women and girls from attending secondary schools and from participating in most aspects of public life in Afghanistan. Mah, 22, left the nation in August 2021 after the organization overran Kabul, the capital. She is currently receiving schooling in the UK and this week will begin a GCSE in English. She tells Newsbeat in the media, "I am happy for myself." I'm secure. I'm free. I'm at liberty."
However, my friends in Afghanistan are powerless at the same moment," she continues. The three years following the Taliban's takeover have seen a rise in restrictions on women's lives. Over-12-year-old girls and women are prohibited from attending schools and from taking the majority of college entrance tests. Their employment options are further limited by the closure of beauty parlors and the inability to use parks, gyms, and sports clubs.
"I don’t put photographs on [Whatsapp or Instagram] stories when I’m thrilled, when I go out with my buddies or when I’m in college," Mah explains.
I want my friends back home to not think that just because she's in the UK now, she has freedom.
" Mah, who currently in Cardiff, believes that earning a GCSE in English will pave the way for her eventual career as a midwife in Wales.
. "It’s tough for me because I can go to university here and I can go to serve.
"However, my buddies who are the same age back home are unable to leave the house at the same time.
" According to the Taliban, the reason for the restriction is religious. They have consistently said that if the problems were resolved, women would be allowed back, even if they had to ensure that the curriculum was "Islamic".
However, the ban has remained in place for the time being, and Afghanistan is the only nation with these limitations.
Mah's path to an education in Cardiff was not without difficulty. She claims that during the Taliban takeover, she escaped to Kandahar and subsequently to Kabul from Helmand Province.
Three days after coming to the capital city, she woke up in the middle of the night to find the Taliban on her street.
"If I stuck in Afghanistan, maybe they would shoot me, maybe they would marry me. "I told my mother over the phone, "Mum, I'm going." "Where are you going?" she asked. "I don't know," I replied.
Mah ultimately made his way to the UK, where he was allowed into the country along with other immigrants.
"We had nothing when we arrived. I didn't give my mother a suitable send-off. I did not give her a hug. This is something I will always remember.
"I went to school and grew up in Afghanistan, even though it's not safe anymore. I miss everything about the nation and can't seem to get over it."
Mah was helped by the Urdd, one of the biggest youth organisations in the Welsh capital, who were offering assistance. Some of those who escaped to Wales and acquired an education, according to its chief executive, Sian Lewis, are now multilingual in Welsh.
"A lot of them left to live in various parts of Wales after receiving their initial education here in the Urdd.
She claims, "It's opened so many doors for them." Mah was not able to speak English when she arrived in the UK.
"It was really difficult. I had no acquaintances. Everything was fresh." However, three years later, Mah is studying Welsh and participated in an English interview with media Newsbeat that lasted more than twenty minutes.
"People here should express 'thank God' every single day. "Women are entitled to certain rights.
Everyone is free to do as they choose and feels secure in this place. They ought to be content. They are quite fortunate."
Aqdas, 17, is someone else who left Afghanistan.
Now, more than 12,000 miles from her home, she is in the United States attending a college in New Mexico on a fully supported scholarship.
She remembers the day Kabul fell to the Taliban. "I recall that I was at a loss for what action to do.
Will they take away my rights?
Will I encounter violence in the same way that my mother did twenty years ago when I spotted her crying and she put her hand on my shoulder to tell me that the Taliban prevented her from finishing her education?"
However, she advised Aqdas not to "let your limitations or the Taliban write the scripts for your life".
Subsequently, Aqdas pursued his education surreptitiously via the Herat virtual school. "I never stopped trying to learn. Whether it was through the internet or figuring out another route."
For her, too, it was a protracted and frequently turbulent voyage. She needed a visa to enter the United States after receiving her scholarship, but the embassy was closed in Afghanistan.
She claims that after that, she traveled to Pakistan with her father on a medical visa because, as a woman, she lacked the necessary documents to exit the nation. Although Aqdas has only begun classes, she claims that other issues are frequently disregarded in Afghanistan.
Many people believe that the education of Afghan females is the only issue. Other problems include mental health.
As one expert put it, "Afghan girls suffer from anxiety and depression on a daily basis, and there is no support."
According to a statement sent to media Newsbeat, the UK government vehemently denounces the prohibition on women attending schools and universities and urges the Taliban to "turn around these choices and to protect Afghan girls' rights." Concerns about women and girls being denied access to school have been brought up by Newsbeat, but they have not responded.
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