RASC News Agency: Some of the students who have successfully received scholarships to study in Russia claim that the Taliban group has confiscated the passports of 500 of these students, preventing them from traveling to Russia for their studies.On Saturday, November 5th, three of these students stated to the media that if the Taliban group does not return their passports, they will lose their scholarships.
According to information, the Ministry of Higher Education of the Taliban group announced the scholarship program in November last year, offering bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral scholarships in collaboration with the Russian Federation and Russian universities. The students for these scholarships are selected by the Ministry of Higher Education of the Taliban group and the Russian Ministry of Science.
These students, who have been selected for the Russian scholarship program, stated that 500 successful male students have been chosen, while no female student has been selected for these Russian scholarships.
The selected students for the Russian scholarship program revealed that the Ministry of Higher Education of the Taliban group requested them to submit their passports in late August, at the same time as the visa issuance process began. However, their passports were confiscated and have not been returned since.
These students’ university courses in Russia started nearly a month ago, but due to the Taliban group confiscating their passports, they have been unable to leave the country to go to Russia. The students stated that the Taliban group has not provided any acceptable reason for confiscating their passports. Whenever they approached the Ministry of Higher Education, they faced violence and mistreatment from the guards.
This incident follows a similar action by the Taliban group, where they prevented female students with scholarships to study in Dubai from traveling.