'Still waiting for what is to come for us': American University of Afghanistan students face fear and uncertainty

"The situation is getting worse day by day and we are losing hope," mentioned one other scholar, C.

A fourth scholar, D, instructed CNN, "I sometimes check Twitter and I see some tweets made by the Taliban in which they talk about our university. To be honest it really terrifies me."

"All the crimes the Taliban have committed against education through the years make me and my fellow students a prime candidate for prosecution under their rules," they mentioned.

"We are still waiting for what is to come for us," D added.

'An huge obligation'

Leslie Schweitzer, the chair of the Friends of American University of Afghanistan, mentioned there are greater than 3,000 students, workers and relations remaining within the nation, with whom they have been speaking "all the time."

"If we have a safe form of movement, we will get in touch with them. We have a constant flow of questions from people who are being threatened in their homes, who are unable to leave their homes," she instructed CNN. "We've also had reports from some of the students who've been evacuated that Taliban has entered their empty homes, searching for documents, etc. It's really important for us to stay in touch with them."

"We have an enormous obligation to all of AUAF because each of these people involved with us, the Afghans, it was a risk from day one, just because of who we are, just because it's the American University of Afghanistan, we teach in English, it's an American form of education and is co-ed," she instructed CNN.

AUAF opened in 2006 -- its creation was introduced by then-first girl Laura Bush throughout a visit to Kabul the 12 months prior. Over greater than a decade, the US authorities invested greater than $150 million within the college, which grew to become often called one of the nation's finest and attracted high students. It had survived a lethal terror assault in 2016 by suspected Taliban militants, reopening the subsequent 12 months.

The Taliban seized the AUAF campus nearly instantly after the US navy accomplished its withdrawal in August.

"They had their flag on the campus' watchtowers the very first day of the fall of Kabul," scholar D mentioned.

Student A instructed CNN that "hundreds" of Taliban are actually on the campus that AUAF students as soon as thought-about a second residence.

Schweitzer mentioned the Taliban have shared images of themselves standing "on the stairway inside the Women's Center, which is a 70,000-square-foot building dedicated to women's economic empowerment," she mentioned. "The irony of that is quite extraordinary."

Student D instructed CNN that though they're "physically fine, I can't deny the fact that the situation has affected me and my fellow students mentally at a different level."

"AUAF was the only place where we, Afghans, had access to world-class education. I had many goals, and studying at AUAF made me feel a step closer to my goals every day," they mentioned.

"The thought of not being able to study there anymore and not being able to see the campus even once again really hurts me," D mentioned.

Schweitzer underscored that AUAF is not closing, telling CNN that "there was an overwhelming response from the students that said, 'We need to keep going. We need to continue our education'.'"

Classes are persevering with on-line, however some students instructed CNN this is not a tenable choice long-term for them due to connectivity points, electrical energy shortages and the associated fee of web entry.

Schweitzer mentioned that the college's funds in Afghanistan are frozen and they're "making some very serious and hard decisions as to how we can cut some costs in order to be able to manage with far less funds."

'Very exhausting for anybody to bear'

Natalie Gonnella-Platts, the director of the Women's Initiative on the George W. Bush Institute, instructed CNN that the US and the worldwide group have a accountability to help Afghan students "whether they're in Afghanistan or whether they're outside of Afghanistan."

She identified that just about half of the scholar physique is ladies and that instructional establishments like AUAF had been a "direct contributor" to the features made by ladies in Afghanistan over the previous decade.

"Education has such an influence on development, prosperity, peace, stability, equity," she mentioned.

Schweitzer famous that "part of the value of this university was the gathering of not just males and females, but it was the gathering of ethnic minorities and people from different provinces."

"That's a terribly important part of all of this, learning to live together, learning transparency, critical thinking," she mentioned.

Approximately 150 students had been ready to get out throughout the US navy evacuations, Schweitzer instructed CNN, and within the closing days earlier than the tip of the US presence on the bottom in Afghanistan, a gaggle of AUAF students tried to entry the airport in Kabul to evacuate. However, the state of affairs grew to become too unsafe, and they'd to flip again.

During a latest Senate Foreign Relations Committee listening to, Blinken mentioned "yes" when requested by Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware if the State Department was prioritizing companions from AUAF for evacuation. In early September, Reps. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat, and Andy Barr, a Kentucky Republican, known as on Blinken to "grant presumptive eligibility to the students and staff of AUAF for P-2 designation and do everything in your power to assist in their safe departure from Afghanistan."

However, the State Department has mentioned it is going to proceed to first prioritize American residents who want to go away Afghanistan, and it is unclear when any large-scale relocation efforts for at-risk Afghans may resume.

Student C instructed CNN that many AUAF students and workers don't carry legitimate passports and the Taliban should not issuing passports, so they're wanting to the State Department for assist acquiring correct documentation. The US authorities doesn't at the moment have any presence on the bottom in Afghanistan.

A State Department spokesperson instructed CNN "some AUAF students have departed Afghanistan" however "for security reasons, we cannot offer additional details about those departures or how many students remain."

"We have been in regular communication with the American University of Afghanistan administrators about their efforts to evacuate the remaining students and staff still in Afghanistan," they mentioned.

However, the uncertainty about what is subsequent "is very hard for anyone to bear," within the phrases of scholar B.

"It's very hard because we don't know anything about the future," they mentioned.