Home Office U-turn on Afghan Youth Orchestra visas

The Home Office has announced a U-turn in its decision to deny visas for the Afghan Youth Orchestra (AYO) in response to widespread criticism of the decision. The U-turn means that AYO’s first UK tour can start in London on Thursday as scheduled before the orchestra perform in Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham.

Formed from members of the exiled Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), AYO comprises 45 male and female musicians aged between 14 and 20 who were airlifted out of Taliban-occupied Kabul in 2022. Under the leadership of Portuguese conductor Tiago Moreira da Silva, the orchestra’s Breaking the Silence tour demands the ‘restoration of musical rights’ in Afghanistan, where music has now been banned, and advocates for the rights of Afghan women.

In a statement released this afternoon, the Southbank Centre, which was set to host the opening concert of the tour on 7 March, responded to the decision: ‘We are delighted that the Home Office has reversed its visa decision, allowing the Afghan Youth Orchestra to perform its Breaking The Silence UK tour in London, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham. This disruption has impacted the Afghan Youth Orchestra's original travel plans and delayed their arrival in the UK. We are working closely with the event promoter, SAMA Arts, to see if Thursday's concert in the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall can go ahead as planned, and will provide further updates shortly.’

Founded in 2010, ANIM worked to support the growth of arts and culture in Afghanistan until the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 made it a crime to perform or listen to music in Afghanistan, or to provide Afghan girls with a secondary education or teach Afghan boys and girls side by side. As a result, the coeducational school and its students were forced to relocate to Portugal.

ANIM founder and director Dr Ahmad Naser Sarmast said: ‘The Breaking the Silence tour is a call to action, using the universal language of music to amplify the voices of the Afghan people. We strive not only to bring attention to the challenges faced by Afghan women but also to highlight the importance of music as a fundamental right that should be accessible to all.’

In addition to the planned concerts, the AYO’s Breaking the Silence tour will feature workshops and other educational activities in the four English cities the orchestra will visit before returning the US this summer. AYO will return to New York’s Carnegie Hall in August to give the closing concert of the first World Orchestra Week.