Afghan Youth Orchestra plays in UK after visa denial reversed

Musicians in the Afghan Youth Orchestra (AYO) have said it is a “fantastic experience” to play in the UK after initially being denied visas to enter the country.

The Home Office had refused the AYO’s entry applications, but reversed the decision on Monday.

The orchestra fled Afghanistan after the return of the Taliban, and its musicians have lived and studied in Portugal, where they were granted asylum, since December 2021.

Farida Ahmadi, 14, and Ali Sina Hotak, 16, members of the 48-person musical ensemble, said the last week had been “complicated”, but they were excited to “have new friends in the UK and meet new people”.

Ali told the PA news agency: “It was complicated but in the end it was OK – that’s the musician life, and it’s amazing to be here now.

“It’s really nice to have new friends from the UK and to meet new people and it’s a fantastic experience to play in such a great hall.”

The orchestra, whose musicians are aged 14 to 22, has toured countries in Europe including France, Italy and Germany to perform their music, which focuses on the struggles of Afghan people and the repression of women under Taliban rule.

The Sama Arts Network artistic director, Jay Visvadeva, whose organisation arranged the UK tour, said the Home Office’s original decision was “callous and inhumane”.

“After working for seven months and spending several thousand pounds in visa, biometric and surcharges, my heart sank in disbelief at (the Home Office’s) callous and inhumane decision,” Mr Visvadeva said.

“We shared our disappointment through social media of the Home Office’s decision and within hours, they finally woke up – after arriving at a highly damaging and a detrimental decision.

“Once the pressure had reached the Home Office, the penny had dropped and they realised their error of judgment and slowly started to reverse its decision.”

On Thursday evening, the group played the first show of their UK “Breaking the Silence” tour at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.

Ali said: “The silence is the silence of Afghanistan. Nowadays, there’s no music in Afghanistan. Nowadays, women cannot go to school in Afghanistan.

“We are the voice of women in Afghanistan. We are the voice of the people in Afghanistan who just want to live and that’s why we are here – to break the silence.”

Mr Visvadeva added he hoped that collaboration between the young British and Afghan musicians would “inspire and give hope to those highly traumatised young members of the Afghan orchestra”.

Farida said she was looking forward to meeting and working with new people in the UK: “I’m experiencing new things and it’s good that when we go to another new place, we meet new friends.

“We show our music to people, we get to share music, and it’s really great.”

The musicians will also perform in Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham.

The youngsters said they were also excited to sight-see in the UK. Farida said she was hoping to visit the Harry Potter Studio Tour, whilst Ali wants to visit the Royal Academy of Music.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Musicians and performers are a valued and important part of UK culture.

“Applications must be considered on their individual merits in accordance with the immigration rules with the responsibility on applicants to demonstrate they meet these rules.

“Whilst their initial applications were refused, after the provision of additional information we are pleased they will be able to travel as soon as possible.”