140 Afghanistan scholars stranded as Fulbright scholarship is withdrawn
The US State Department announced its withdrawal of the Fulbright Scholarship program1 from Afghanistan last month for the academic year 2022-23. It stated “significant barriers impeding our ability to provide a safe exchange experience to future participants”2 as the primary reason for the decision.
The decision has left around 140 semi-finalist students stranded after waiting for a long time. Students prepared for it for years. Among the shrinking career opportunities post Taliban’s capture, many of these students declined offers from other global universities and scholarship programs, having pinned their hopes on Fulbright. These applicants were awaiting their final interviews.
“I had planned my entire career and life around it, and sacrificed everything else for it. I am in shock now and do not know what to do,”3 said Noor Mohammad, one of the scholarship semifinalists and a graduate from Paktika University, situated beyond Kabul, in rural Afghanistan.
The decision was an unpleasant surprise even for Heather Nauert, a Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board member who is responsible for the program in Afghanistan. She became aware of the development through a news article. “We are disappointed and disturbed by the State Department’s decision to circumvent the board of directors and others who have a clear stake in the programme,”4 she stated. Expressing concern over the students’ safety, Nauert stated, “If our Fulbright scholars remain in Afghanistan…they may be hunted down and killed as a result of the Western-style education that they already received.”
Fatema Ahmadi, one of the semifinalists, managed to leave Kabul in August 2021 after the Taliban’s invasion and settled in Virginia, USA. “Significant barriers” and “serious safety and logistical challenges of bringing a new cohort of students to the United States”5 stated by the State department as the reason to pull out from Afghanistan don’t really apply to Ahmadi. “If they just stop this program and are not supporting Afghan scholars, it is really unfair,”6 said a devastated Ahmadi after reading the email.
The Fulbright scholarship program was started in 1946 as an opportunity for the US to build bridges with other countries. Over 4,000 international students reap the benefits of this program annually. It is highly valued because it offers full scholarship to postgraduate students, amidst a heap of scholarship programs available for undergraduates.
More than 100 Afghan students were enrolled through this program in Fall 2021, which is still operational. A spokesperson from the State Department said that they would start inviting applications again once the conditions are safe enough for Afghan scholars.
The program has been operating in several “politically complicated and even dangerous countries”7 such as Ukraine and Venezuela for years, according to Ms Nauert. “I believe that the programme will remain dead as long as the Taliban is in power and as long as Washington officials remain afraid to set demands and think creatively,”8 she said.
References:
2. Fulbright Foreign Student Program. https://foreign.fulbrightonline.org/about/foreign-student-program
3. Dismay as US suspends Fulbright scholarships for Afghans. https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20220211065115721
4, 7, 8. Fulbright board member condemns Afghanistan pullout. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/fulbright -board-member-condemns-afghanistan-pullout
1, 5, 6. "It is really unfair": U.S. State Department cancels Fulbright program for Afghan scholars. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/afghan-fulbright-program-scholars-cancel-state-department/
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