Sutherland MP presses Home Office to honour life of Linda Norgrove and help female trainee doctors in Afghanistan in wake of shocking Taliban education ban
A Sutherland MP is pressing the Home Office to support a foundation working to move female trainee doctors out of Afghanistan to the UK to complete their medical studies in light of the ban on higher education for women enforced by the Taliban.
Jamie Stone, MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, has joined forces with Western Isles counterpart, Angus MacNeil, in calling for support for The Linda Norgrove Foundation's efforts.
Ms Norgrove, who was from Sutherland and worked as an aid worker in Afghanistan, was killed during a failed rescue attempt after she and three Afghan colleagues were kidnapped by members of the Taliban in the Kunar Province of eastern Afghanistan in September 2010.
She was only 36.
The Linda Norgrove Foundation was set up following her kidnap and death.
Her parents John and Lorna, who now live in the Western Isles,set up the organisation and use the funding to support the education, health, and income of women and children affected by the war in Afghanistan.
The letter follows Mr Stone's question to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office where he asked what the Government what they were doing to support female aid workers in Afghanistan in light of the ban on women working for non-Governmental organisations in December.
Mr Stone said: "The UK must do everything we can to support women who are having their rights stripped away from them in real-time. Whether that's by having conversations with international Governments to reinstate the right to education and charity work, or by having conversations with our own Government to make it easier for these women to come here instead, we have a responsibility to help.
"That's why we have written to the Home Office - not only to highlight the fantastic work that The Linda Norgrove Foundation is doing, but also to shine the light on the obstacles that other charities doing similar crucial work are facing."
Andrew Mitchell MP, Minister for Development at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, said: "I thank the Honourable Gentleman for his comments, and we are all so desperately sorry about the appalling death of his constituent, but cognisant of the good work that has resulted from her passing.
"The important point that he makes about coordinating with other countries is something which we are doing all the time. And I can tell him, for example, when I had discussions with the Prime Minister of Pakistan in Geneva on the 9th January, it was one of the specific things we discussed and we made the point that where they have influence we hope they will exert it – and they have been doing."
Full text of the letter:
Dear Home Secretary,
We are writing to you regarding access to UK visas for Afghan women and Government support for the charities working towards this objective.
Linda Norgrove, born in Sutherland, was kidnapped and killed by the Taliban whilst she was in Afghanistan as an aid worker in 2010. Her parents, now living in the Western Isles, have since set up The Norgrove Foundation in her memory. The charity funds education, health, and childcare for people affected by the war in Afghanistan, with an emphasis on education and incomes for women.
Since the Taliban enacted a ban on women and girls accessing higher education, there are a number of female medical students who have been forced to abandon their qualifications. The Norgrove Foundation are working hard to bring these women to the UK to complete their training, free from the threat of persecution.
Most recently, they have advocated for a scope to be recognised within the Afghan Citizens Relocation and Assistance Policy for a number of female medical students to complete their studies at medical schools in Scotland. However, sufficient resources remain an obstacle to these plans.
We write to ask what the Home Office is doing to support charities like The Linda Norgrove Foundation in bringing Afghan women to the UK so that they can complete their studies and become qualified doctors.
Yours sincerely,
Jamie Stone
MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
Angus Brendan MacNeil
MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar
