Deadline for evacuation from Afghanistan draws nearer, as government says students have “begun arriving”
Some students on the Chevening master’s mobility programme have not yet arrived in the UK from Afghanistan, the government has indicated, as the situation on the ground becomes increasingly dangerous following the takeover by the Taliban earlier this month.
With the evacuation deadline of 31 August looming, a government spokesperson told Research Professional News that only some of the reportedly 35 Afghan students taking part in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office programme have so far made it to the UK after being evacuated from Kabul in recent days.
“We have been assisting this year’s Afghan Chevening scholars to leave the country and they have begun arriving in the UK,” the FCDO spokesperson said on 25 August, adding that there was no update by late afternoon on 26 August.
British forces have until 31 August to remove people from Afghanistan. On 26 August, two bombs exploded at Kabul airport as people queued to leave the country, killing 90, including Afghans and US soldiers, according to media reports.
On 27 August, the UK government said its ability to process further evacuations was “now extremely reduced and additional numbers will be limited”.
UK defence secretary Ben Wallace said the government’s top priority was “the protection of all those involved who are operating in a heightened-threat environment”.
“It is with deep regret that not everyone has been able to be evacuated during this process,” he said.
Sussex contingent
Adam Tickell, vice-chancellor at the University of Sussex, confirmed that seven of the nine Chevening scholars from Afghanistan due to start courses at Sussex had made it to the UK.
“Our thoughts are with all Afghans who haven’t yet got here. We will give all the help we can,” he wrote on social media on 26 August, as he thanked the FCDO “for pulling out the stops” to get the students to the UK.
The government-run Chevening programme aims to bring overseas students to the UK to study one-year master’s degrees.
The FCDO had previously told the students that they would not be able to come this year, partly because of the chaos in Afghanistan as the Taliban takes back power in the country after 20 years of Western intervention.
But the government later reversed its decision and said the students could still come for the 2021-22 academic year, following a widespread outcry.
British Council employees
Elsewhere, the British Council said that while a number of employees in Afghanistan had left and been taken to the UK, some were still in the country.
“We are doing everything we can to remain connected to our current and former employees and contractors throughout the relocation process and to facilitate their extraction. Our teams are providing additional support to our former Afghan employees and contractors once they arrive in the UK,” the council said.
It added that it was “deeply concerned, not only for our colleagues and those we have worked with over the last 20 years, but for all the people of Afghanistan”.