1. The Issues
  2. Afghanistan

Canada’s response to the humanitarian crisis faced by Afghan people, particularly for those who find themselves in danger of retaliation by the Taliban for serving Canada’s missions in Afghanistan, or who were part of a network funded by Canada that worked to advance the rights of women in Afghanistan, has left far too many people behind.

New Democrats have for years been urgently calling on the Government of Canada to lift the 40,000 cap for the Special Immigration Measure for Afghans so that those who risked their lives and that of their family members, including extended family members, to serve Canada are afforded the opportunity to get to safety in Canada that the Liberal government promised following the fall of Kabul and the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.

Without knowing how many Afghans served Canada, the government set an arbitrary cap of 40,000 in its Special Immigration Measure (SIM) to help bring them and their extended family members to safety. Department officials have indicated that there are no more spots available, and it will not issue any new invitations to those left behind, including those known to Canada, and who have been vetted by DND and GAC.

The fact remains that Canada has made promises to the Afghan people that remain unfulfilled, abandoning the Afghan people who put their lives and that of their family members in jeopardy to help Canada complete its missions. This is simply unconscionable. These people should be treated as part of the Canadian military family and their situation remains dire.

The Canadian government must lift the cap and accelerate the processing times with increased resources and a sense of urgency that is commensurate with the situation to expeditiously bring these Afghans and their extended family members to safety.

AFGH#4: Humanitarian Assistance for the Afghan people

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC, NDP
With respect to resettlement support and getting people to safety, the reality is that the current streams cannot be applied to many people. Many people are still within Afghanistan. The stream that the government has provided is that they need to be in a third country.In the face of this situation, what specific recommendation do you have for the government so that we can ensure that people who are in Afghanistan would be able to access resettlement supports?

Asma Faizi, President, Afghan Women's Organization Refugee and Immigrant Services
We've been asking for this to ensure that they open up the ability of Afghans from inside Afghanistan to seek resettlement. There was a short window where they had opened it, and then it was unclear as to why, but they shut it out. It's very important, and I can give an example.
Just in the last couple of weeks, I've had a number of Canadian organizations that want to help some women who are trapped inside Afghanistan and are in hiding. They were calling me to ask what were their options. Unfortunately, for the pathways that are open for those kinds of cases, they need to be outside of the country.
Canada needs to enable that once again, to allow those from inside Afghanistan to be able to apply for the resettlement program.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC, NDP
You said there was a short window. Do you recall when that window was?

Asma Faizi, President, Afghan Women's Organization Refugee and Immigrant Services
I believe it was in October. There was a two-week window when we were informed they were going to allow the vulnerable Afghans to seek resettlement, and then a couple of weeks later, we found out that it was no longer available.

Click to read the full discussion from the Committee meeting

 

 

AFGH#3: Humanitarian Assistance for the Afghan people

Khalidha Nasiri, Executive Director, Afghan Youth Engagement and Development Initiative
The short answer is, absolutely. One of the members mentioned that a 10-year-old girl who was eligible to come under one of these programs died because her application was delayed. Last week, we heard of an unnamed brother of a Canadian embassy worker who was killed, presumably by the Taliban in Afghanistan, and whose application was delayed because of paperwork.
Absolutely, we think these measures would work.

Dr. Lauryn Oates, Executive Director, Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan
Absolutely, we need to forge agreements with other governments. Again, this is something the U.S. has done. We have followed suit in so many U.S.-driven policies in Afghanistan that had bad outcomes for Afghans, so it would be good if we also emulated some that could have good outcomes.
I would emphasize that the danger is not in leaving Afghanistan; it's in staying in Afghanistan. That was tragically exemplified in the case of the girl in Kandahar who was killed while waiting to come to Canada.
We, as a small NGO, have been able to get eight families out on our own, without any assistance from the government. I can't say it was easy, but we did it, and many other organizations have done the same. If we had the government supporting us to do the same, we could do so much more. We could get people out.

Click to read the full discussion from the Committee meeting

AFGH#2: Humanitarian Assistance for the Afghan people and Committee Business

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC, NDP

Well, time is of the essence, and the urgency is clearly there. I can't imagine what it must be like for your workers and your organization to not be able to deliver aid when you see the crisis that exists right now, where children are literally starving. I would say that time is of the essence. We need the government to respond ASAP.

I want to turn to a different question for the representative from the UNHCR. Part of the issue, of course, with the resettlement support—which is not the only solution but certainly part of the solution—is that people within Afghanistan cannot get UNHCR designation. This is an ongoing problem. People have to get to a third country to get to safety to access that.

I wonder whether or not this is an issue that has been brought up by your organization with the minister and what suggestion you might have to address this crisis. Would waiving the UNHCR designation requirement at this time, under these extraordinary circumstances, be appropriate?

Indrika Ratwatte, Director, Regional Bureau of Asia and the Pacific, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

As my colleague mentioned, by mandate and international law, refugees have to cross an international border as refugees to benefit from UNHCR's work and solutions. One part of what we are doing right now is really robustly increasing our resettlement capacity in the neighbouring countries, because Afghans are coming across to these countries, but within Afghanistan we have advocated for bilateral mechanisms to enable Afghans to get out of Afghanistan. At whatever third locations they can then come to, we are available to extend our good offices, but waiving that requirement at this point in time, Madam Kwan, I don't think would be possible.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC, NDP

Yes, within UNHCR, that is not something within your authority to do, but it's certainly within the Canadian government's authority to do so, as is allowing people to get to safety. Otherwise people in dire circumstances would not be able to do so.

I wonder, Mr. Messenger, if you've seen on the ground, for the women and the girls particularly who have been actively persecuted or who are in hiding, what they can do to get to safety if refugee status cannot be obtained?

Michael Messenger, President and Chief Executive Officer, World Vision Canada

This is a challenging question. I'm going to ask Ms. McKinlay to answer since she is closer to what's happening on the ground.

Julie McKinlay, Director, Fragile and Humanitarian Programs, World Vision Canada

That's a very challenging question in a short amount of time. The situation is changing minute by minute. We do what we can to support our teams on the ground and encourage them to find the safest point they can, but that does change. There's a lot of uncertainty and lack of clarity, I think, even for our teams who have submitted applications for asylum to other countries. An encouragement would be ensuring that there is a response to those applications so families know what their status is and can plan accordingly, but it's very challenging.

Click to read the full discussion from the Committee meeting

Parliament VIDEO: Speech on the situation facing Afghan refugees

On December 7, 2021, MP Jenny Kwan gave a speech in the House on the situation in Afghanistan and facing Afghan refugees, calling on the government for specific immediate actions to save lives by bringing people to safety in Canada. The speech was in response to an Opposition Day motion to strike a Special Commttee on Afghanistan:

Parliament VIDEO: Jenny in Question Period on protecting Afghan refugees

On Decemer 3, 2021, MP Jenny Kwan asked about protections for Afghan refugees: "The Liberal government has failed to meet even one-tenth of the commitment of protecting Afghan refugees. The Liberals' continued insistence on layers of red tape has left tens of thousands of Afghans fleeing the Taliban unable to get to safety. With each passing day, Afghan collaborators, human rights advocates, judges, women and girls face heightened risks. Will the Liberals simplify documentation requirements; waive the need for refugee status determination, as was done for the Syrian refugee initiative; grant temporary resident permits for those in need; and increase staffing for processing?"

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