Omnibus Afghanistan thread

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One million Afghans want into Canada: Report
Author of the article:
Postmedia News
Publishing date:
Jan 18, 2022 • 12 hours ago • 1 minute read •
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Immigration Minister Sean Fraser says more than a million Afghans have asked to come to Canada and so far we’ve only accepted 6,750 to date, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser says more than a million Afghans have asked to come to Canada and so far we’ve only accepted 6,750 to date, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. Photo by iStock /GETTY IMAGES
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Canada is still a long way off from accepting the number of Afghan refugees it said it would.
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The quota was originally 20,000 but then that number was doubled to 40,000.

In fact, the country’s Immigration Minister Sean Fraser says more than a million Afghans have asked to come to Canada and so far we’ve only accepted 6,750 to date, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

“We look forward to welcoming even more Afghan refugees,” said Fraser.

“I anticipate that if we remain on track, sometime in the next calendar year, now that we’re in 2022, we will cross the 40,000 threshold.”

Afghanistan has a population of 40 million.

“The circumstances of course are heartbreaking in Afghanistan,” said Fraser. “It is not necessarily one million distinct applicants. I use the point to illustrate the pressures the system is facing when it comes to processing and identifying 40,000 cases that qualify.”
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Last year, Canada welcomed 405,000 immigrants from all over the world, breaking the previous record of 400,870 in 1913.

It was the first increase in federal immigration quotas in a national recession.

Cabinet has proposed to raise the national quota to 411,000 more immigrants in 2022 and 421,000 in 2023.
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“New Canadians who choose Canada as their home play a crucial role in our economic success, our diversity,” said Fraser.

“They help build the richness of our communities and our future prosperity, particularly as we’re seeking to fill gaps in the labour force and restore the health of our communities after the COVID-19 pandemic.”
 

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Thousands of Afghans who helped Canada trapped in Afghanistan, struggling to leave
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Marie Woolf
Publishing date:Aug 15, 2022 • 13 hours ago • 5 minute read • 6 Comments

OTTAWA — MPs and veteran-led aid groups are urging ministers to do more to help thousands of Afghans who assisted Canadian Forces but remain trapped in Afghanistan a year after the Taliban seized Kabul.


They warn that 8,000 Afghans approved to come to Canada have not yet been able to escape. Many do not have a passport or visa and applying to the Taliban for documents could put them in danger.

Another 3,000 Afghans who helped Canada’s Armed Forces and government have not been approved to come to Canada, according to Aman Lara, a veteran-led non-governmental organization working to help interpreters and other Canadian government employees on the ground.

Brian Macdonald, Aman Lara’s executive director, urged Canada to extend the special immigration program, set up to settle 18,000 former local employees of the Canadian Armed Forces or government, which is being effectively wound 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 can’t get out,” he said.

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

A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said in June the department has received over 15,000 applications for the program, as well as referrals for the remaining 3,000 spaces.

Official figures show Canada’s resettlement efforts have lagged behind federal targets 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 have come to 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 fulfil the government’s promise to bring 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada.

Canadian activists and opposition MPs accused the Liberals of not doing enough and say some families are in hiding from the Taliban as they await 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 the Russian invasion.

She said the situation for Afghans who helped Canada is “grave,” with many unable to escape the country and facing persecution by the Taliban.


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

“Their lives are in danger. They told me what the Taliban are calling them: they are called ‘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 split up, with only some members making it to Canada. She also warned that Afghans who worked for Canadian Forces “are being hunted” by the Taliban.

“Nobody should face death for working for the Government of Canada, especially when this government can identify those who worked for them and is able to provide them life-saving assistance,” she said.


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

He said the Pakistan 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 called on the Canadian government to negotiate to keep that window open until all Afghans approved to come to Canada are able to get here.

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


Asuntha Charles, national director of 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 per cent of Afghan children suffer from stunting — being small for their age — a common and largely irreversible effect of malnutrition,” she said.

“In the four areas we work, we’ve 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 going to school.”

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

He said Afghan refugees who arrive through programs set up to bring them to Canada have a right to stay permanently, whereas it’s believed many Ukrainians who have fled to Canada intend eventually to return to Ukraine.


Helping get people out of Afghanistan and to Canada was very challenging, he added, as Canada has no diplomatic presence there and does not recognize the Taliban government.

“Our commitment of bringing at least 40,000 vulnerable Afghans to Canada has not wavered, and it remains one of the largest programs around the world,” he said.

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

Hassan Soroosh said the Taliban had swiftly reintroduced “repressive policies” including restrictions “on almost every aspect of girls’ and women’s lives and rights.”

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


The ambassador called for the international community to take a unified approach toward the Taliban and put greater pressure on them “as they continue 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 who need resettlement support,” he said.

In a joint statement on Sunday, Canada’s ministers of foreign affairs, immigration, international development and national defence said “we have witnessed the hardships endured by the Afghan people, with some having undergone harrowing journeys to flee the country and countless others living in fear of persecution and retribution.”

“Faced with a heart-wrenching situation in Afghanistan, Canadians opened their hearts to help people rebuild their lives and more than 17,300 Afghans have arrived in Canada over the past year.”
 

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Thousands of Afghans who helped Canada trapped in Afghanistan, struggling to leave
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Marie Woolf
Publishing date:Aug 15, 2022 • 13 hours ago • 5 minute read • 6 Comments

OTTAWA — MPs and veteran-led aid groups are urging ministers to do more to help thousands of Afghans who assisted Canadian Forces but remain trapped in Afghanistan a year after the Taliban seized Kabul.


They warn that 8,000 Afghans approved to come to Canada have not yet been able to escape. Many do not have a passport or visa and applying to the Taliban for documents could put them in danger.

Another 3,000 Afghans who helped Canada’s Armed Forces and government have not been approved to come to Canada, according to Aman Lara, a veteran-led non-governmental organization working to help interpreters and other Canadian government employees on the ground.

Brian Macdonald, Aman Lara’s executive director, urged Canada to extend the special immigration program, set up to settle 18,000 former local employees of the Canadian Armed Forces or government, which is being effectively wound 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 can’t get out,” he said.

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

A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said in June the department has received over 15,000 applications for the program, as well as referrals for the remaining 3,000 spaces.

Official figures show Canada’s resettlement efforts have lagged behind federal targets 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 have come to 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 fulfil the government’s promise to bring 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada.

Canadian activists and opposition MPs accused the Liberals of not doing enough and say some families are in hiding from the Taliban as they await 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 the Russian invasion.

She said the situation for Afghans who helped Canada is “grave,” with many unable to escape the country and facing persecution by the Taliban.


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

“Their lives are in danger. They told me what the Taliban are calling them: they are called ‘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 split up, with only some members making it to Canada. She also warned that Afghans who worked for Canadian Forces “are being hunted” by the Taliban.

“Nobody should face death for working for the Government of Canada, especially when this government can identify those who worked for them and is able to provide them life-saving assistance,” she said.


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

He said the Pakistan 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 called on the Canadian government to negotiate to keep that window open until all Afghans approved to come to Canada are able to get here.

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


Asuntha Charles, national director of 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 per cent of Afghan children suffer from stunting — being small for their age — a common and largely irreversible effect of malnutrition,” she said.

“In the four areas we work, we’ve 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 going to school.”

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

He said Afghan refugees who arrive through programs set up to bring them to Canada have a right to stay permanently, whereas it’s believed many Ukrainians who have fled to Canada intend eventually to return to Ukraine.


Helping get people out of Afghanistan and to Canada was very challenging, he added, as Canada has no diplomatic presence there and does not recognize the Taliban government.

“Our commitment of bringing at least 40,000 vulnerable Afghans to Canada has not wavered, and it remains one of the largest programs around the world,” he said.

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

Hassan Soroosh said the Taliban had swiftly reintroduced “repressive policies” including restrictions “on almost every aspect of girls’ and women’s lives and rights.”

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


The ambassador called for the international community to take a unified approach toward the Taliban and put greater pressure on them “as they continue 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 who need resettlement support,” he said.

In a joint statement on Sunday, Canada’s ministers of foreign affairs, immigration, international development and national defence said “we have witnessed the hardships endured by the Afghan people, with some having undergone harrowing journeys to flee the country and countless others living in fear of persecution and retribution.”

“Faced with a heart-wrenching situation in Afghanistan, Canadians opened their hearts to help people rebuild their lives and more than 17,300 Afghans have arrived in Canada over the past year.”
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Two years into Taliban rule, Afghan women ask Canada for education and accountability
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Dylan Robertson
Published Aug 13, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 5 minute read

OTTAWA — More than 70 people gathered in front of the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill Sunday afternoon to call on Canadians to join them in protecting girls’ education in Afghanistan and resisting legitimacy for the Taliban regime currently in power in the country.


Many said the international community has a stronger role to play in bringing the terrorist group to justice, noting conditions in the country have deteriorated dramatically since the Taliban seized the capital city of Kabul in August 2021.


“It’s a complete humanitarian and human-rights crisis that’s been going on for two years,” said Murwarid Ziayee, a senior director with Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan.

The group, members of which attended Sunday’s march, is part of a global effort to have countries help gather evidence of “gender apartheid.” They want to see an eventual International Criminal Court prosecution of the Taliban for crimes against humanity.

The hard line fundamentalist group took over Afghanistan on Aug. 15, 2021 after U.S. troops pulled out of a two-decade military mission that had heavy Canadian involvement.


There were 165 Canadians, including seven civilians, who died during the mission. During that time, girls were able to attend school and rose through the ranks of universities, companies and government departments.

Global sanctions deepened an economic crisis immediately after the Taliban takeover, and severe weather and earthquakes soon followed. Within six months of Kabul’s fall, the UN reported that 95 per cent of Afghans were not getting enough to eat.

The Taliban touts a decline in bomb attacks and bribes under its rule, but the UN has documented atrocious treatment of women, who have been denied vital medical services and barred from numerous professions.

This month, the BBC’s Persian service reported that Taliban leaders in certain provinces have expanded a ban on education to girls as young as 10. The Taliban had already barred girls from attending secondary schools.


“My friends are back home, they can’t go to school. I talk to them and they’re always feeling depressed,” said Yasamin Dellawari, one of the young women who attended the rally in shirts that read “Let Her Learn” and sang an original song for the crowd.

The 19-year-old fled her home two years ago because of the Taliban. Now that she is in Canada, she’s determined to do something to help those who stayed behind.

Batool Karimi, 17, said it meant a lot to her to see the support for Afghan girls at the rally.

“I’m pretty sure one day we’re going to have this gathering, this generation, all of us in Afghanistan, in Kabul, and we are going to talk about how we did it,” she said.

To get there, many of the afternoon’s speakers said, they will need the support of the international community.


“The resistance is there,” said Homa Hoodfar, a professor of social and cultural anthropology at Montreal’s Concordia University who spoke at the rally.

“Afghan women — despite all the problems — have been there (in) the streets, raising their voices. Unfortunately, the international support has not been so forthcoming.”

Ziayee was raised in Kabul and spent two decades working on development projects in Afghanistan during its democratic period.

Her group operates schools and recently asked students aged 10 to 12 to draw the way they saw their future. Many sketched themselves behind bars or in a cave, while others drew total darkness.

“The reality of their lives is so hard to digest. What we hear is a sense of hopelessness,” she said.


“It makes me want to stand stronger and fight because they cannot do it from inside, although women have shown so much strength and bravery by resisting the Taliban.”

Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan has shifted some of its physical schools to online learning, which parents have their daughters attend in secret.

It’s an act of faith — the idea is to maintain the gains in education so that girls can get back to class whenever they’re allowed, without missing entire grades.

Among the Afghan diaspora, there is an agonizing debate about whether countries should accept Taliban rule and work with them to alleviate hunger, or stick with principles in the hopes of undermining the terrorist group’s grip on the country. UN agencies have been similarly split, with some suspending activities that bar women and others limiting their work to all-male teams.


Ziayee said there shouldn’t be a compromise between values and aid.

She said blanket sanctions on Afghanistan are punishing everyday people and should instead be directed at specific Taliban leaders who travel or do business abroad. She said that might instill accountability for human-rights atrocities.

Canada can fund online-learning projects and follow through on its delayed pledge to resettle 40,000 Afghans. Ottawa could also step up in its promise to allow Canadian development groups to help people in Afghanistan, she said.

The Liberals passed Bill C-41 in June, which changed parts of Canada’s terrorism law that barred aid workers from hiring or purchasing anything in Afghanistan on the grounds that paying taxes to the Taliban amounts to funding a terror group.


The law immediately cleared hurdles for humanitarian groups trying to get food and medical supplies into the country. But it subjects development groups, such as those trying to build clinics or wells, to a permitting process that has no launch date.

In a July 14 presentation to stakeholders, the Department of Public Safety said it expects to launch that permitting process “in the coming months.”

Sen. Ratna Omidvar advocated for the legislation for more than a year and helped amend the bill to ensure aid flows faster and Ottawa reviews the bill’s effectiveness.

Omidvar has been given no timeline for implementation, but says bureaucrats have been working to launch the permitting process. She expects them to announce the format sometime in September.

“In political and parliamentary life in Canada, that perhaps is not too long,” she said. “The wheels are moving; I know that developmental groups would want to have the permission as soon as possible.”

Ziayee said she’s anxious that Ottawa still hasn’t fixed an issue that allies sorted out within months of the Taliban seizing Kabul.

“While we really appreciate that this passed, we need some clarity,” she said. “We can’t wait for another two years to have a timeline or a start date.”

— With files from Sarah Ritchie
 
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Secret tribute for 'embarrassing' envoy that fled Afghanistan: Memo
Author of the article:postmedia News
Published Aug 29, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read
A secret ceremony was organized by the Department of Foreign Affairs to honour Ambassador Reid Sirrs and other diplomats who fled Afghanistan aboard a half-empty military plane during the fall of Kabul, records show.
A secret ceremony was organized by the Department of Foreign Affairs to honour Ambassador Reid Sirrs and other diplomats who fled Afghanistan aboard a half-empty military plane during the fall of Kabul, records show.
A secret ceremony was organized by the Department of Foreign Affairs to honour Ambassador Reid Sirrs and other diplomats who fled Afghanistan aboard a half-empty military plane during the fall of Kabul, records show.


Canadian military called the incident “embarrassing,” according to Blacklock’s Reporter.


In a memo, the department disclosed it held an “emotionally charged” tribute to Sirrs last fall.

There was no public announcement.

“On October 26 the department held a ceremony to recognize the efforts of public servants during this extremely complex and challenging evacuation operation,” said the memo Afghanistan Evacuation Recognition Ceremony. “Many have demonstrated outstanding commitment in difficult conditions. It was an emotionally charged situation for all those involved and some still carry this emotional weight to this day.”

The department wouldn’t reveal details including who attended the ceremony, where it was held or why the public was never told about it.


Ambassador Sirrs, who was reassigned to Buenos Aires, made a lone appearance for questioning at a parliamentary committee on March 21, 2022. Sirrs testified he fled Kabul because it was too dangerous.



“We could hear explosions,” testified Sirrs, former director general of security for the foreign ministry. “We could see fires all over the city. When we came into the military side of the airport itself it was very obvious the city was coming under siege and it became evident to us that a whole bunch of chaotic activity was taking place and was going to escalate.”

About 1,250 Canadians along with thousands of Afghan nationals who had worked with Canadian military were trapped in Kabul. Flight logs confirmed Sirrs fled aboard a half-empty RCAF plane.

Eyewitnesses testifying at the Commons Special Committee on Afghanistan said the flight of the diplomats stranded thousands.

“We were the first embassy to depart,” testified Major-General (Ret’d) Dean Milner, the last Canadian combat commander in the region. “That was very embarrassing for a lot of us on the ground.”