I smell a PR photo op coming out of DC upon their arrival. Why is it next to impossible for Afghans to get US travel/work visas yet Iranians have little trouble. Plus, there’s a massive push to get girls involved in science at a young age, it’s a black eye to deny these girls a chance to compete in a male dominated arena – PB/TK
All-girl Afghan robotics team allowed to travel to US after visa ruling overturned – By Sune Engel Rasmussen / July 13 2017
Six Afghan teenage girls are to compete in person in a global robotics competition in Washington on Sunday after the US reversed a decision not to grant them visas.
The initial rejection of the team’s visa sparked international outcry and the girls became national celebrities in Afghanistan, where many are perplexed about the repercussions of new US immigration rules and feel abandoned by their American allies.
A US state department official confirmed to the Guardian that there were new developments under way in the girls’ case. The team said they had been asked to show up at the embassy in Kabul on Thursday.
“We are so happy I can’t find words for it,” Rodaba Noori, 15, said from the runway as the girls were about to board a plane from their home city, Herat, to the Afghan capital.
“We will stay in the United States for about seven days. We will compare the cultures between the US and Afghanistan, and go sightseeing and talk to the people,” she said, in English.
Continue to theguardian.com article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/13/all-girl-afghan-robotics-team-allowed-to-travel-to-us-after-visa-ruling-overturned
