August 26, 2025
Dear Friends,
Following the publication of a news report on the withdrawal of Bangladesh’s visas-on-arrival for Palestinian students bound for AUW in Prothom Alo on 13 August (link), there has been a flurry of further reports in the Bangladeshi media. Many of these accounts have been misleading — and some reported comments altogether mendacious (Dhaka Tribune; The Business Standard; Ekattor TV).
This note is intended to correct those misrepresentations and to preserve both the integrity of AUW’s work and the dignity of the people involved, particularly with respect to our efforts to bring Palestinian students from Gaza to Chittagong. These efforts have been underway for many months, involving countless logistical steps and direct engagements with Palestinian leadership, including Ambassador Riad Mansour at the United Nations and most recently, Her Excellency Dr. Varsen Aghabekian Shaheen, the Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates.
We are now at a critical juncture. The students have been identified and support pledged at the highest levels. Yet time is running out. Each day that passes risks extinguishing the hopes of these young women whose universities and homes lie in ruins. As one of them wrote to us in recent days:
“You know how worried we are about our future as students… When will it happen, when will we be able to join the university? The situation here in Gaza is getting worse, and the loss of lives feels imminent.”
It is in that spirit — of urgency, truth, and solidarity — that I share the following.
What is AUW?
Since its establishment through an Act of the Parliament of Bangladesh in 2006, Asian University for Women (AUW) has been deeply committed to providing education to women overlooked by traditional systems or otherwise challenged in pursuing their right to education.
This commitment was exemplified in AUW’s widely acclaimed evacuation of Afghan students stranded in Kabul in 2021 (covered in The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Times of London, The New York Times, South China Morning Post, and The Daily Star).
Today, AUW hosts nearly 2,000 students from around 20 countries, with a focus on those who are often excluded from higher education. In Bangladesh, our initiatives support ready-made garment (RMG) factory workers, women working on tea estates in Sylhet, indigenous communities, daughters of Grameen Bank borrowers, and others left on the margins of opportunity. AUW has also made a commitment to award 600 scholarships to Dalit women from across the subcontinent. We host a Summer Science School for girls with extraordinary talent in mathematics and science. Those who perform at very high levels are then guaranteed admission to AUW.
Who are AUW Students?
AUW has become the single largest host of Afghan women at any university in the world. We have forayed into India’s Nagaland, Pakistan’s Balochistan and Gilgit and Chitral regions, Sri Lanka’s Batticaloa, and neglected areas of many other countries in search of talent and to help stitch together a mosaic of women whose diverse experiences enrich the AUW community.
Through a unique combination of preparatory programs and extensive support systems, AUW has earned recognition both for its ability to reach “the last mile” and for the quality of education it provides. Our graduates have gone on to Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Stanford, Duke, McGill and a host of other luminary institutions around the world. They have also made a mark in professions both in the public and the private sector.
Richard Saller, then President of Stanford University, reflected:
One of the principal goals of AUW was to instill confidence and a powerful sense of agency in these students, who came from societies that limited opportunities for women – sometimes severely. The Asian University for Women instilled in them confidence in their own agency, and Stanford provided the resources to use their extraordinary talents in pursuit of their passions.
Similarly, Professor William Kirby, former Dean of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts & Sciences, wrote in Daedalus:
Of all the experiments in South Asia or anywhere for that matter, none can match the aspiration and audacity of the Asian University for Women (AUW)…this independent, regional university has the education and empowerment of women leaders as its goal. It pursues its mission through a rigorous education in the liberal arts and sciences.
Scholarships at AUW
Scholarships at AUW are entirely need-based. Only a small minority of students pay fees; nearly all receive comprehensive scholarships covering tuition, room, board, books, international travel, health care, and, where necessary, a modest monthly stipend. We operate a 24-hour Health & Wellness Center; a Mental Health Wellness Center; and extensive other support services.
Sometimes, even with the most rigorous procedures and support systems in place, accidents do happen. In 2022, an Afghan student was reciting her own poetry in a hall full of people but then suddenly collapsed on the stage. Although she was provided with CPR immediately and was taken to a hospital within 15 minutes of the episode, sadly the young woman did not survive. A subsequent autopsy indicated that the death was from natural causes. Several years later, another student, a Laotian national, was tragically killed in a car accident off campus. The entire AUW community was heartbroken by these tragedies, both of which were fully investigated by the local police authorities. Every loss of life is painful but when it inflicts one of our own as she is just blossoming, the pain becomes especially unbearable. May their souls rest in peace.
The AUW Campus
Students are currently housed in rented dormitories while our permanent campus is being built. Designed by two of the world’s greatest living architects, the new campus will eventually accommodate 6,000 residential students, with academic and research facilities ranking among the best in the world, albeit in a modest and functional style.
Updated Images of AUW’s Campus Model |
AUW’s Initial Masterplan |
Supporting AUW
AUW’s operations are sustained by philanthropy from both public and private sources. Our supporters include Uniqlo’s philanthropic arm Fast Retailing Foundation, the Ikea Foundation (Sweden), Novo Nordisk (Denmark), Inditex (Spain), Kuwait’s Red Crescent Society, the Carnegie Corporation, the Mellon Foundation, and many others. A private citizen from Hong Kong SAR made the first major contribution toward our campus construction.
Ambassador Riad Mansour and Kamal Ahmad at the UN |
Distinguished individuals have also given their time and leadership: Cherie Blair, internationally renowned human rights lawyer whom we honored last year with a Doctor of Justice, honoris causa,, serves as AUW’s Founding Chancellor; two former Danish Prime Ministers—Poul Nyrup Rasmussen and Helle Thorning-Schmidt—serve as Patrons; and esteemed educators such as Professor Sheikha Al Misnad (Qatar) and Professor Maithree Wickremesinghe (Sri Lanka) have chaired our Board of Trustees. We were also fortunate to count Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus as an early Board member.
Recruitment of Students from Gaza
As conflict and violence destroyed Gaza’s universities, AUW resolved to offer opportunities to its displaced students. AUW has previously graduated women from both Gaza and the West Bank, and in consultation with our Palestinian alumnae, we opened applications for women from Gaza. Over 2,000 applied.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Dr. Varsen Aghabekian and Kamal Ahmad in her Ramallah office. |
AUW representatives secured the support of the Palestinian Authority. Following my meeting with Ambassador Riad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the UN, he wrote in an email dated Friday, October 9, 2024 (copied to the then- Foreign Minister of Palestine):
“It gives me great pleasure to inform you of appreciation of the State of Palestine of your decision to offer full scholarship to a large number of women students from the Gaza Strip. The Government of the State of Palestine will cooperate with you and through you with AUW to facilitate this endeavor. The State of Palestine expresses its gratitude to the people of and Government of Bangladesh for granting us this educational opportunity as an expression of solidarity and support to the Palestinian people.”
As customarily done, AUW applied for visas-on-arrival from the Government of Bangladesh. Later, a revised application was submitted, as some students from the original list could no longer be reached nor could we reach their families or any other contacts that may have been previously provided by the students. These students and others who no longer wanted to pursue the AUW opportunity were replaced with candidates from the waitlist. Since the planned route required travel through Jordan, the Government of Bangladesh appealed to Jordanian authorities for transit permission.
This month, after meeting the Palestinian Minister of Education and Higher Education, I traveled to Ramallah and met Dr. Varsen Aghabekian Shaheen, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates on August 3, 2025 at her Ministry of Foreign Affairs offices. A former head of the Human Rights Commission and a professor at Al-Quds University, Dr. Shaheen epitomizes AUW’s commitment to female leadership. We invited her to visit AUW. We sincerely hope she will visit AUW next year.
In the meantime, we hope and pray that the Government of Bangladesh will grant the visas for the invited Palestinian students, and that all other authorities will extend their cooperation without which this mission cannot be successfully completed. Education of girls and women must stand above all other considerations.
Movement of Palestinians out of Gaza inevitably requires approval of the Israeli authorities. As Bangladesh laws do not permit any links with the Israeli government, we were relieved that another government took on the responsibility of successfully securing all the required Israeli approvals for the students to exit Gaza. At no point whatsoever did anyone from AUW staff or its Board of Trustees, directly or indirectly, have any contacts with Israeli representatives in this process.
It is also important to clarify that AUW has never received any funding for the Gaza initiative. While a former Board Chair once sent a fundraising letter to the Government of Qatar, no follow-up discussion was held and no monies were received from Qatar or anywhere else. The AUW Gaza initiative arises solely from AUW’s devotion to the cause of educating women in the most challenging circumstances—a cause we will always uphold.
With appreciation and gratitude to all who support women’s education,
Sincerely,
Kamal Ahmad
Founder
Asian University for Women