On a sunny Tuesday morning in Vancouver, Hela Dedeqi has been in front of the school that she has attended since September after she arrived in Canada last summer.
The 19 -year -old Dedeaqi had missed school countries for several years in her home country, Afghanistan. It now ends the 11th grade at the Crofton House School, an elite private school.
But in view of the recent funding in the course of the administration of US President Donald Trump, she fears that other Afghan women as they will not have the same chance of receiving formal training.
She says that she has the opportunity to learn far away from Taliban controlled Afghanistan, has changed her life and fears for other women who have received the USA financed by the USA that are expected to be canceled this summer.
“It is heartbreaking. I am afraid of me in this position,” Dedeaqi told CBC News.
More than 120 Afghan women will lose their scholarships financed by the US Agency for International Development, which had enabled them to visit universities in cities such as Qatar and Oman.
Trump’s administration canceled the scholarship program as part of the comprehensive cuts against the USA, and accused the agency of the agency widespread waste And criticize His programs so as not to focus on American foreign policy goals.
In an e -mail in February, which was viewed by CBC News, the scholarship between USAID Afghanistan -Women’s scholarship said that their scholarships would be hired and that they would receive “travel preparations back to Afghanistan”.
Activists are now asking the Canadian government and the universities to help women study here, and the students could be confronted with severe and potentially life-threatening consequences if they return to Taliban rule.
Taliban Bidewalks
The Taliban excluded women from most areas of public life and held girls from going to school beyond the 6th grade, which they had imposed after the withdrawal of the US forces in 2021, even though they originally promised more moderate rule.
Accordingly 2023 data From the United Nations, at least 1.4 million Afghan girls have been banned from access to the secondary level since 2021, while more than 100,000 access to Post Secondary Education has been refused.
Susan Ormiston from CBC talks to three Afghan exiles living in Canada about the changes they see in Afghanistan, and about the effects on women and girls in the country, three years after the US withdrawal from the USA.
The Taliban also force a strict dress code that arrest women who do not meet their interpretation of hijab or Islamic headscarf. The United Nations and other human rights organizations have reported that some women were subjected to cruel punishments, including stoning and scrolling.
Friba Rezayee is the executive director of Women Leadern from Tomorrow, a non -profit organization based in Vancouver, which has contributed to this
She says she has been flooded with news from USID scholarship holders who desperately seek help.
“It is a really scary situation because nothing is certain for her,” she said in an interview.
Panic attacks
USAID scholars should be financed by 2028, but a spokesman for the US Foreign Ministry announced CBC News this week that the government would finance the scholarships by June 30 of this year.
The speaker did not answer any questions about whether the government was financed beyond this date.
The women’s scholarship of the scholarship announced CBC News that it is as part of the assumption that the scholarship program ends on June 30th and that it intends to work with the USA and the Foreign Ministry to apply for an extension that enables all students to graduate.
On Tuesday, a federal judge decided that the DESTAMATION from USAID probably violated the constitution, but it is still unclear what this means for the USASID operations.
CBC News spoke to one of the students studied in Qatar who has one year left in their program.
“Many girls had panic attacks, so we had to take them to the hospital … they fight with stress and fear,” she said.
CBC News does not name the students because she has concerns about her security when she returns to Afghanistan.
“We knock on every door we can so that we can find a scholarship or something so that we can follow our training and not return to Afghanistan,” she said.
A non-profit profit that helps Afghan women to receive safe training is a global plea after the cuts of US President Donald Trump at United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have ended scholarships for 240 young women. Lina Alimizada, who received one of these scholars last year, tells what this means for them and what could happen if they were forced to return to their home country.
Rezayee said she hope that the Canadian universities and the federal government will provide support.
Murwarid Ziayee, Senior Director at Canadian, non -profit law to learn Afghanistan.
“You need this type of support more than ever,” she said. “There are opportunities to increase and adapt to react to the current crisis.”
“Where there is a will, there is a way”
Christina Clark-Kazak, a professor of the University of Ottawa, who specializes in forced migration, says that Afghan students would face many challenges to come to Canada.
“The problem is that you cannot give a scholarship if the person is unable to get to Canada,” she said.
She said the best bet would be that students would apply for a student visa, but she noticed that there was a high rejection for people who are probably not returning to their country of origin and that the federal government has submitted an upper limit for new international study permits.
According to Clark-Kazak, universities can offer scholarships, but need Ottawa’s help to bring the students to Canada.
She said the universities previously raised themselves in times of crisis, including several in 2015, when several contributed to sponsoring Syrian refugees so that they could continue their training.
“Where there is a will, there is a way,” she said.
In a statement on CBC News, Global Affairs Canada said that “educational stakeholder in Afghanistan coordinates the effects of USAID cuts on educational programs”.
“Canada is concerned about the potential long -term effects of reduced financing for people in need of protection around the world. We acknowledge that every country has the right to determine its own development aid, foreign policy priorities and organizational structures,” said Global Affairs.
DEDEQI hopes that all efforts will be made to bring the USAID scholarships to Canada or to other countries.
“It is the only thing we can help you and even save your life,” she said.
“We won’t have her return to Afghanistan.”
