The UK Home Office has implemented an “emergency brake” on study visas for nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan, effective March 26. The policy terminates all pending applications for the Chevening Scholarship, a fully funded program that brings approximately 1,500 master’s students to UK universities each year. Shahira Sadat, an Afghan applicant who received unconditional offers from three universities, including University College London, is among those affected. She and five Sudanese students have launched a legal challenge, arguing the ban is discriminatory and violates human rights laws. The decision follows Home Office data showing a 470% increase in asylum claims from students of the four countries between 2021 and 2025. However, critics note the absolute numbers remain small: only 120 Sudanese students applied for asylum in the year to September 2024, out of more than 110,000 total UK asylum claims. The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford has pointed out that the four countries are not the largest sources of asylum claims from visa holders—Pakistan accounts for roughly 9,000 such claims annually, nearly a quarter of the total. The policy has exposed a divide between the Home Office and other government actors. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper reportedly called for Chevening scholars to be exempt, a request rejected by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Labour MPs, who broadly support the Chevening program, have criticized the decision, while former scholars describe it as undermining the UK’s role in international development. The Home Office maintains that study routes are being “widely abused” and that no exceptions can be made, despite the program’s competitive selection process and focus on leadership development. For students like Sadat, the ban severs one of the few remaining pathways to education. Afghanistan remains the only country where women and girls are barred from secondary and higher education. Sadat, who had planned to study AI and machine learning, now fears further restrictions on her ability to leave Afghanistan and is applying for a DAAD scholarship in Germany. She and others argue that the policy disproportionately affects those already facing systemic barriers, reinforcing the idea that “your nationality can take those global opportunities from you.”