Thousands of Afghans who helped Canada trapped in Afghanistan, struggling to get out

OTTAWA-

MPs and veteran-led aid groups are urging ministers to do more to help thousands of Afghans who helped Canadian forces but remain stuck in Afghanistan a year after the Taliban took Kabul.

They warn that 8,000 Afghans approved to come to Canada have still not been able to escape. Many do not have passports or visas and requesting documents from the Taliban could put them in danger.

Another 3,000 Afghans who assisted the Canadian Armed Forces and government have not been approved to come to Canada, according to Aman Lara, a veterans-led non-governmental organization that works to assist interpreters and other Canadian government employees on the ground. .

Brian Macdonald, CEO of Aman Lara, urged Canada to expand the special immigration program, established to settle 18,000 local former Canadian Armed Forces or government employees, which is winding down after reaching capacity.

“There are 8,000 people in Afghanistan who have been approved to come to Canada under the special immigration program who cannot leave,” he said.

“We are asking the government of Canada to keep the special immigration program open and in unlimited numbers until everyone who helped Canada leaves.”

A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said in June that the department had received more than 15,000 applications for the programme, as well as referrals for the remaining 3,000 slots.

Official figures show that Canada’s resettlement efforts have lagged behind federal goals and efforts to help those fleeing the war in Ukraine.

More than 17,300 Afghans have arrived in Canada since last August compared to 71,800 Ukrainians who arrived in Canada in 2022 alone, according to government statistics. The federal government has promised to resettle 40,000 Afghans.

Fraser predicted in December that it could take two years to fulfill the government’s promise to bring 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada.

Canadian activists and opposition MPs have accused the Liberals of not doing enough and say some families are hiding from the Taliban while awaiting approval of their immigration applications.

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan, who has been in contact with many Afghan refugees who worked with Canadian forces, said there is a “stark difference” between the government’s treatment of those fleeing the Taliban and those fleeing of the Russian invasion.

He said the situation for Afghans who helped Canada is “serious” as many are unable to escape the country and face persecution from the Taliban.

Kwan said that some received no response to their applications from the Immigration Department other than an automated response. Others seeking visas from the Taliban authorities to escape their regime were at risk if they identified themselves.

“Their lives are in danger. They told me what the Taliban call them: they call them ‘the Western dogs,'” Kwan said.

“We owe them a debt of gratitude. We cannot abandon them.”

Amanda Moddejonge, a military veteran and activist, said she has witnessed families being torn apart and only a few members making it to Canada. She also warned that Afghans working for Canadian forces “are being persecuted” by the Taliban.

“No one should face death for working for the Canadian government, especially when this government can identify those who worked for them and provide them with vital assistance,” he said.

Macdonald said the safe houses set up by Aman Lara for Afghan interpreters and their families, and others who helped Canada, closed because the exodus to Canada has taken so long and he couldn’t afford to keep them open.

He said the Pakistani government had agreed to a 60-day window in June to allow Afghans without full documentation to leave the country to fly to Canada, but not all Afghan and Pakistani officials at borders and airports were aware.

He asked the Canadian government to negotiate to keep that window open until all Afghans approved to come to Canada can get here.

His plea came as aid agencies working in Afghanistan sound the alarm that the country is in a dire humanitarian crisis, with 18.9 million people facing acute famine.

Asuntha Charles, country director for World Vision Afghanistan, said aid workers have encountered acute poverty and malnutrition, including among children.

“At least one million children are on the brink of starvation, and at least 36 percent of Afghan children are stunted, being small for their age, a common and largely irreversible effect of malnutrition,” said.

“In the four areas we work in, we have found that families live on less than a dollar a day. This has forced seven out of 10 boys and half of all girls to work to help their families instead of go to school”.

Vincent Hughes, a spokesman for Fraser, said the Afghan and Ukrainian immigration programs are very different.

He said Afghan refugees who come through programs set up to bring them to Canada have the right to stay permanently, while many Ukrainians who have fled to Canada are believed to intend to eventually return to Ukraine.

Helping get people out of Afghanistan and into Canada was a big challenge, he added, as Canada has no diplomatic presence there and does not recognize the Taliban government.

“Our commitment to bring at least 40,000 vulnerable Afghans to Canada has not diminished and remains one of the largest programs in the world,” he said.

Afghanistan’s ambassador to Canada, who has no contact with the Taliban regime, said “the experience of the last year in Afghanistan has been very painful and disturbing.”

Hassan Soroosh said the Taliban had rapidly reintroduced “repressive policies”, including restrictions “on almost all aspects of girls’ and women’s lives and rights”.

“The Taliban’s forcible takeover has caused great disruption to the constitutional order, socio-economic development, public services and civil society activities,” he said.

The ambassador called on the international community to take a unified approach towards the Taliban and exert more pressure on them “while continuing to insist on their uncompromising approach and repressive rule.”

“We remain grateful to Canada for maintaining a principled position on the current tragic situation in Afghanistan and for a sustained commitment in support of the people of Afghanistan, including women, girls and those in need of resettlement support,” he said.

In a joint statement on Sunday, Canada’s ministers of Foreign Affairs, Immigration, International Development and National Defense said that “we have witnessed the hardships suffered by the Afghan people, some of whom have undergone harrowing journeys to flee the country and many others live in fear of persecution and retribution.”

“Faced with a heartbreaking situation in Afghanistan, Canadians have opened their hearts to help people rebuild their lives and more than 17,300 Afghans have come to Canada in the last year.”

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