Rwanda to host dozens of Afghan schoolgirls

By:BBC AFRICA

Rwanda will host dozens of schoolgirls being relocated from Afghanistan following the takeover of their country by Taliban militants.

Shabana Basij-Rasikh, the founder of a privately run School of Leadership, Afghanistan (Sola), said on Tuesday that about 250 students, staff and family members were en-route to Rwanda, through Qatar, to begin a “semester abroad for our entire student body”.

Rwanda’s education ministry has tweeted a message of welcome to the Sola community:

Ms Basij-Rasikh said they hoped to resettle temporarily and wanted to return to Afghanistan when the situation permitted.

“My heart breaks for my country,” she wrote on social media.

“I’ve stood in Kabul, and I’ve seen the fear, and the anger, and the ferocious bravery of the Afghan people. I look at my students, and I see the faces of the millions of Afghan girls, just like them, who remain behind.”

Afghans have been growing desperate to leave their country, in fear of living under Taliban rule, and thousands have been evacuated to other countries.

The Taliban, which enforced a strict version of Islamic law when they ran Afghanistan before 2001, retook full control of the country more than a week ago.