Amala joins open letter urging UK Home Secretary to reconsider student visa ban

Amala has joined other UK-based human rights and education-focused organisations in calling on the UK Home Secretary to reconsider the policy put in place in March 2026 that blocks study visas for citizens of four countries, including Afghanistan.

The ban is particularly devastating for Afghan women and girls, who have been barred from education beyond the sixth grade for almost five years. This policy closes one of the few doors still open to those determined and talented students fighting for their right to learn.

Other countries, including Denmark and Sweden, have announced that Afghan women qualify for protection based on their nationality and gender. Amala, alongside six other organisations advocating for the right to education for all, are urging the UK to take a similar stance of solidarity, calling on the Home Office to exempt Afghan students, particularly women, from the ban, and to work with civil society to build safe pathways to education for people from crisis-affected countries.