Daily Times

The Afghan Youth Orchestra (AYO) will now be allowed to perform in the UK after the Home Office reversed its decision to deny the group visas for entry. The AYO was due to perform at the Southbank Centre in London on Thursday as part of its Breaking the Silence tour and the venue’s South Asian Sounds festival, before going on to perform concerts in Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham.

The Sama Arts Network, which organised the tour, confirmed that the Home Office had U-turned on its decision on Monday evening to deny the AYO entry visas.

Sama artistic director Jay Visvadeva told BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight programme: “The good news has travelled to me from Portugal, that the Home Office has finally seen light of the day.” The group – an ensemble of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) – had expressed its “profound disappointment” over the visa refusal in a statement on ANIM’s website, and called on the Government department to reconsider its decision. The statement added: “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.”