Deusto hosts four refugee families affected by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan

After the departure of international troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban returned to a regime of terror. This marked a setback for the country that has forced women and girls back into their homes and denied them such a basic right as education. In this situation, all those who collaborated with Western forces have been targeted by the Taliban regime.

In this context, the University of Deusto has hosted four refugee families who had to leave Afghanistan for security reasons. This hosting initiative is led by the Global Campus of Human Rights, an interdisciplinary centre made up of more than 100 universities from all over the world -including Deusto- whose aim is to promote the ongoing promotion of human rights and democratisation through education and cooperation in research. It is the world's largest university network specialising in human rights and democracy issues.

During their stay in Bilbao, the Afghan refugees will learn Spanish and will also pursue the Master’s degree in Business Diplomacy and the European Master’s in Human Rights and Democratisation at the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, as well as the Diploma in International Legal Studies at Deusto Law School. These programmes are promoted and endorsed by the Global Campus of Human Rights network.

As a show of support and solidarity from the University community, Rector José María Guibert, the Vice-Rector for the University Community and Agenda 2030, Juan José Etxeberria, the Dean of the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences Javier Arellano and the Director of the European Master’s in Human Rights and Democratisation Felipe Gómez welcomed them at a brief ceremony held at the University of Deusto.