Revealed: Home Office's 'cruel' letter denying visas to 47 teenage Afghan ... trends now

The Home Office's letter denying visas to teenage Afghan musicians on tour to raise awareness of Taliban repression has been revealed. 

A concert organiser previously has slammed the Home Office's 'callous and inhumane' decision to refuse visas to the 47 teenagers who were raising awareness of the plight of girls under the Taliban.

The Home Office finally made a U-turn on its decision after facing a massive backlash.

Now the letter that sparked the controversy - and the three reasons the musicians' visas were denied - has come to light.

The Home Office turned down the requests for a nine-day stay over doubts the group would leave at the end of their visit, The Sunday Times reported.

The other reasons included questions over whether the group had enough money and queries about their student status in Portugal.

The orchestra first came to Europe in 2021, where they were offered a home in Portugal. 

Yet out of an origional 150 members, just 58 have remained. Many others have quit and moved elsewhere in Europe, including in Germany.

The Afghan Youth Orchestra managed to arrive on Thursday afternoon in Britain and play that night as scheduled at London's Southbank Centre - a mix of Afghan, south Asian and classical music from the West. 

Concert organiser Jay Visvadeva said: 'After working for seven months and spending several thousands pounds in visa biometric and surcharges, my heart sank in disbelief that theirs was a callous and inhumane decision.

'Later, they finally woke up - after arriving at a highly damaging and detrimental decision.'

The Afghan Youth Orchestra are now touring the UK to raise awareness of the plight of girls and women under the Taliban even though their visas were initially denied.

Mr Visvadeva added: 'In September 2023, when the South Bank Centre invited me to curate a season representing the arts of South Asia, I immediately suggested the Afghan Youth Orchestra now exiled in Braga, Portugal. 

'It gave me a vision to invite this 48 young musicians to collaborate with young British musicians in a unique cross-cultural dialogue that would inspire and give hope to these highly traumatised young members of the Afghan Orchestra.

'We as programme producers recognize the significance of preserving cultural identities while fostering integration. 

'To accomplish this delicate balance, we had organised a variety of vibrant cultural concerts and events that celebrate heritage and nurture community bonds. 

'These concerts would take place at prestigious venues in London, Birmingham, Manchester and other places.

'As producers, we have lost a lot of money in our contractual relationships, causing a havoc in our finances and breaking the hope of the young musicians. 

'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.

'I am now ever so pleased that they finally saw light at the end of tunnel and grant the orchestra the visas, which they have now been confirmed. We look forward to the tour.'

The musicians in the orchestra are part of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), a group that fled their homeland after the Taliban seized power and banned music and education for young women and girls. 

After the visa was initially refused, ANIM said: 'The visa refusal not only dealt a significant blow to the young musicians' aspirations but also deprived these young musicians an opportunity to raise awareness through music about the gender apartheid against Afghan women and denial of cultural rights of the Afghan people by the Taliban.'

After the public outcry over the refused visas the Home Office overturned its decision this week and said in a statement that 'musicians and performers are a valued and important part of UK culture'.