Richard Shimooka: Friends from Canada still in Afghanistan face immeasurable risks to their lives

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During the federal election campaign, no issue received more popular and cross-party support than helping Afghans who had supported Canada’s efforts in Afghanistan. Much of the attention has focused on military interpreters, embassy staff, and Canadian citizens.

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However, this downplays the scale of Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan.

Local partners and contractors were an essential element of their presence, particularly aid and development workers. They often worked in highly unsafe regions and covered controversial topics such as women’s reproductive health or democratic inclusion. This alone makes them the primary target of retaliation from the Taliban. Many of them have already been threatened, several injured and even killed. Every day they stay in the country adds immeasurable risks to their lives.

Currently, at least 10,000 of those people remain in Afghanistan, many of whom have already received some background investigation. They remain in limbo, trapped under the looming threat of retaliation from the Taliban as they cling to the feeble promise that countries like Canada could remember and deliver on their commitments.

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While our former allies wait, it would be too charitable to describe Canada’s response thus far as inadequate and disorganized. It was a shame.

The initial delay in Canada’s response could be attributed in part to federal elections, where the bureaucracy operates under the interim convention and has limited ability to change pre-existing policy. Without a political leadership to lead the bureaucracy to streamline its processes to facilitate the escape of refugees, it immediately bogged down.

The applicants faced these insurmountable bureaucratic hurdles, as Afghanistan collapsed around them. They often received conflicting or useless information, which prevented them from fleeing the country. In short, it was an abject disaster and tragic irony that the Canadian bureaucracy they served became a major impediment to their quest for safety.

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Even with the elections that have passed for several weeks, nothing has been done since then to address these issues. A common problem is that Afghans cannot obtain the necessary visas for themselves and their families due to the disorganization between Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and Global Affairs Canada, a relatively simple problem that should have been corrected months ago at the first signs. of a problem. crisis.

Instead, recent government responses have only exacerbated their plight. On September 28, Ottawa raised the cap on the number of Afghan refugees from 20,000 to 40,000, an empty political gesture designed to offer the perception of action, but will only hamper ongoing efforts. The visa processing system and extraction processes are already overwhelmed and lacking in resources; the system must now accommodate twice as many refugees without prioritizing those most at risk.

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To resolve this crisis, the government must make it a real priority and implement a series of practical steps. It must provide the necessary resources and direction to the bureaucracy to remove irresponsible processes and barriers that prevent people from exfiltration. Clear scheduling pathways must be established for these individuals so as not to force them to navigate a broken bureaucratic system while at great personal risk within Afghanistan.

Third-party groups are trying to fill the void and have had some success: Collectively, they have moved nearly three times as many people out of the country as the Canadian government. At the very least, Ottawa should work to support their efforts, including by providing much-needed resources.

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Canada should also modify eligibility for its resettlement program to explicitly assist all people who worked with Canadians on the ground, including humanitarian workers. Ottawa must also make a strong commitment to Pakistan, the most likely place for refugees to leave Afghanistan, to facilitate their entry with as few impediments as possible. Many are at their financial limit and unable to pay the fees and bribes necessary to escape.

So far, Canada’s response to the collapse of the Afghan government has been a disaster, but there is still time to address its failings. The safety of those who loyally served Canada is at serious risk and they deserve much better than what they have received thus far.

Richard Shimooka is a Principal Investigator at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

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