A group of aspiring female doctors from Afghanistan have travelled to Edinburgh to complete their medical studies after the Taliban forced them to abandon their studies.

The 19 women arrived in Britain on Tuesday after a three-year campaign by the parents of Linda Norgrove, the kidnapped Scottish charity worker who was killed in a botched rescue attempt by US special forces in 2010.

The Linda Norgrove Foundation, founded and run by her parents John and Lorna at their home in Uig in the Western Isles, said the students had been virtually confined to their homes in fear for their lives since the Taliban regained power.

The foundation worked with UK and Scottish government officials to arrange safe passage and student visas for the women, who were given places at four medical schools after Scottish ministers changed the law to treat them as domestic students entitled to free tuition fees.

It said considerable effort had been required to overcome the legal and bureaucratic hurdles required for them to enter the UK, including organising English language tests and arranging university interviews via Skype.

It then managed the students’ trips to Pakistan to apply for UK and Pakistani visas, biometrics, student finance, UK bank accounts and student accommodation, spending a total of around £60,000.

Many of the women lived in Kabul, others came from remote provinces such as Bamiyan, Wardak and Daykundi, flying to the UK from Islamabad in Pakistan.

One of the students, Omulbanin Sultani, said in a statement from the foundation that the Norgroves and their assistant had “literally saved their lives” through their support over the past three years.

“It fills me with enormous pride and joy to be standing here today on this beautiful day,” she said. “But let me tell you, being here has not been as easy as these words make it seem. We have endured a thousand days of suffering to get to this point.”

Another student, 19-year-old Zahra Hussaini, who had just completed her first year of medical school when the Taliban returned to power, said it had been her dream to come to the UK. She said she hoped it would be safe to return home after she finished her studies.

“Our journey here will be long enough, maybe eight or nine years, and I think there will be a lot of changes in Afghanistan during that time,” she said. “I am confident that the situation will not remain the same.”

John Norgrove said it was encouraging that the UK and Scottish governments had worked so closely together on this project.

“Finally, these 19 incredibly talented young women are getting their future back, with the chance of an excellent education and a career. The alternative for them in Afghanistan was not good,” he said.

Linda Norgrove, then 36, was working for the US charity Development Alternatives Incorporated when she was kidnapped by Islamist militants in Kunar province in September 2010. Her death, apparently caused by a US fragmentation grenade thrown during the rescue attempt, sparked consternation in the US and Britain and led to a joint investigation by both governments.