Refugees and activists face challenges under UK visa and social pressures

At the Jalsa Salana convention in Alton, Hampshire, members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community gathered for the UK’s largest Islamic gathering of its kind. Attendees shared accounts of religious persecution, including Ayesha, a refugee from Pakistan who survived a 2010 terrorist attack on two Ahmadi mosques in Lahore that killed 94 people.

Ayesha described the trauma of her father being shot during the attack and the subsequent discrimination she faced in school. Her family eventually sought refuge in the United Kingdom.

Separately, Afghan human rights activist Aisha Khurram has been unable to begin a master’s course in diplomatic studies at the University of Oxford due to UK visa restrictions. Despite being offered a place, Khurram is affected by an ‘emergency brake’ on visas for individuals from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Cameroon, and Sudan. The Home Office has reported a high proportion of visa-linked asylum claims through sponsored study routes, preventing many Afghan students from accessing their earned academic opportunities.