When Afghanistan’s case to the Taliban became clear last year, Canada promised to offer up to 40,000 people a safe haven.
But almost a year later, less than a third have arrived.
Hamid Paimani, a former translator and journalist, is unable to get any answers from Ottawa on the status of his resettlement application.
“I tried to reach them and just got an automated response,” Paimani told CTV National News. “And numbers I tried to reach don’t answer.”
He has applied for a special immigration program for Afghans with ties to Canada, which aims to relocate 18,000 people.
“It’s been more than eight months [since] I applied,” Paimani said, adding that he actually applied a month before the Taliban took power.
To date, 10,315 applications have been approved. But only 6,230 people have arrived.
“Because of the Taliban, we are finding it extraordinarily difficult to ensure that the proper security controls are in place in Afghanistan,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said of the situation on Thursday, calling it “absolutely cruel” and “heartbreaking” that it was affecting Afghans who are fleeing Canada helped, now go Taliban targets in Afghanistan.
Paimani was able to leave Afghanistan and make it to Pakistan, but he still doesn’t know when he’ll be allowed to come to Canada.
Federal conservatives say Canada is overcomplicating it by requiring a passport that can only be issued by the Taliban and by requiring biometric screening, which cannot be done in Afghanistan because Canada has no presence there.
“The government sat on its hands like many other issues,” Jasraj Hallan, conservative immigration critic, said Thursday, adding that the process of evacuating Afghans who had been helping the Canadian military should have started before the Taliban left regain power. “And we’re where we are now, and that’s taking lives.”
Stakeholders say the process is the problem.
“The whole documentary – it’s a huge life-and-death Easter egg hunt for people to get permission to travel and once they’ve gotten those, we’re good at getting them out,” explains Brian Macdonald, of the non-profit organization Aman Lara, said CTVNews.ca
Fida Hussain, who worked as a translator for the Canadian military, has been waiting to travel to Canada with his family since last summer.
“If I go back to Afghanistan I am 100 percent sure I will be executed by the Taliban,” he told CTV National News.
It’s a fear that haunts retired Major Paul Carroll as he helps Hussain navigate the immigration process.
“The lack of clarity from IRCC as to the status of their file and the issues was shocking,” Carroll told CTV National News.
Immigration Secretary Sean Fraser offered few solutions in a news conference on Thursday, but suggested answers could come soon.
“We expect to be able to communicate with everyone about their respective statuses within probably a few weeks,” Fraser said.
“We’re doing everything we can to get people through the process, but I want to make sure people are aware that even then, we’re still dealing with an area that the Taliban have taken control of to have.”
The long waiting time is not the only problem. Interpreters and others who helped Canada during the war face retaliation from the Taliban as they wait for Canada’s green light.
It’s a trip that Aman Lara says can be organized in about 48 hours — but only once applicants have gathered all the elusive documents.
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