Never forget the girls of this country

“Never forget the girls of this country. »

It was the last advice Farzana’s father gave her the day she left Afghanistan.

When the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Farzana’s father refused to close the women’s school he ran. Since then, he and his wife, who always believed in the education of women, have been kidnapped. And Farzana, 23, is redoubling her efforts so that her father’s dream is not the same. She, who had just completed a bachelor’s degree in commerce in India at the time of the fall of Kabul, created a cooperative aimed at making the women of her village financially independent. Her goal is to do a master’s degree in Canada to continue defending women’s rights in her country.

Farzana is one of seven brilliant Afghan women that lawyer Gabrielle Thiboutot is trying to sponsor with the For Refugees organization to allow them to continue their studies in Canada.

Exceptional students from diverse backgrounds (law, medicine, engineering, politics, etc.) who saw their wings clipped during the fall of Kabul, on August 15, 2021. Since then, Afghan girls over the age of 12 have not more right to set foot in school.

When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, Gabrielle Thiboutot, 27, had just started her career as an immigration lawyer. She and her colleagues began receiving around a hundred calls for help a day. Cries of distress coming in particular from leading young women whose lives had suddenly been turned upside down.

Like her, they were at the dawn of their adult lives and their dreams. Unlike her, they were deprived of their right to achieve them.

Among the calls for help received, that of Sooriya, a young feminist journalist who founded her own radio station for women’s rights, acted as a detonator. Her commitment made her a target for the Taliban. She had already lost around ten friends in the wake of the Taliban’s return to power. She feared she would be next. “When I spoke to her, she was hiding in basements. »

In an emergency, the lawyer tried to register her in the Canadian government’s humanitarian program for welcoming Afghan journalists or human rights defenders. In vain. The program was already full and Sooriya did not qualify for other programs aimed at welcoming the most vulnerable refugees.

While Sooriya finally managed to flee Afghanistan on his own and obtain a study permit to complete his master’s degree abroad, Gabrielle Thiboutot could not bring himself to abandon him. We are talking here about an extraordinary woman who is creating a virtual library bringing together all the works created by Afghan women so that they cannot be erased by the Taliban.

By knocking on the door of the University of Ottawa, her alma mater, the lawyer managed to obtain for Sooriya a letter of acceptance for a master’s degree in international politics. Since tuition fees are very high for foreign students, she then tried to get a scholarship. We told him no. Because if we made an exception for an Afghan woman, how can we justify not doing it for others?

“I’m a little stubborn in life,” admits Gabrielle Thiboutot. So I said to myself: if for a woman, no one wants to help me, I’m going to create something so big that no one will be able to say no to me! »

This is how the Horizons of Resilience initiative was launched. Fifteen scholarships were obtained to support the right to education of Afghan women. The project already has the support of two universities (University of Ottawa and Wilfrid Laurier University) and discussions are underway to create other partnerships. A fundraising campaign was also launched.

The D^D Anne-Chloé Bissonnette, who is a doctor and lawyer, is part of the small volunteer team working hard on this project. Like Gabrielle Thiboutot, this doctor who also decided to study law to be able to better help vulnerable populations appreciates her luck and feels solidarity with Afghan women. “It is impossible not to react to these women who see themselves completely blocked from all the opportunities that we are served on a silver platter! »

The initiative also appealed to Sharen Craig, a retired teacher from Ottawa who was looking for a way to help Niloofar, an Afghan engineer dreaming of becoming Afghan Minister of Development, who had to flee persecution by the Taliban. Reading her story in the newspaper, Sharen felt the need to do her part even though she wasn’t sure how to do it.

“I am an ordinary woman who knows nothing about activism! But you don’t have to be an expert to offer help. People can do a lot more than they think! »

During her online searches, Sharen Craig came across Gabrielle Thiboutot. They met in a cafe. They decided to join forces. And this is how Niloofar found her place in the cohort of exceptional Afghan women who, it is hoped, will be able to continue their studies in the country from the fall of 2024.

“They’re all really looking forward to being here. Being part of this project gives them hope,” Sharen Craig tells me.

On the political front, the organization For Refugees is working hard to sustain the initiative so that hundreds of Afghan women can benefit from it in the coming years.

In April, the organization submitted a public policy to the office of the federal Minister of Immigration, Marc Miller, requesting that the women for whom this project was launched be entitled to priority treatment and that relax the conditions for obtaining their study permit, as recommended by the Special Committee on Afghanistan in June 2022.

For the moment, even if all the candidates have a full scholarship and can count on an organization that will take care of them upon their arrival, Immigration Canada has still not committed to guaranteeing them a study permit upon arrival. time for the start of the fall university term or to say how long they will have to leave their dreams on hold. All requests are examined “on a case-by-case basis”, they simply told me.

Let us hope that, inspired by Farzana, Sooriya and all the Afghan women who fight for women’s right to education, the Canadian government also never forgets the exceptional women of this country and rises to the occasion. their courage.

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