Humanitarian, Refugees and Foreign Affairs

We live in an interconnected world, and events transpiring worldwide ultimately affects Canadians, whether we are speaking about economic trade, global prices of goods and commodities, knowledge and skills exchange, effects of climate change, disease transmission and control, natural disaster management, and others. Fulfilling our international obligations protects and serves the interests of Canadians.

People fleeing war, persecution or natural disasters face tremendous barriers to obtaining necessary travel documents. For this reason, I have been advocating for visa-free travel for urgent, life-and-death situations such as the war in Ukraine. I have also been advocating for the government to rescind the safe third country agreement because often, refugees cannot get to safety without first going to a third country. It is paramount that Canada has an adequately resourced immigration system that can act with flexibility and expediency in times of crisis without compromising national security standards.

As your Member of Parliament, I will fight to ensure Canada fulfills its humanitarian and environmental obligations as a member of the international community.

Canadian Press NEWS: Fraser pressed on why Immigration has not approved 2,900 Afghans who helped Canada

OTTAWA — NDP caucus chair Jenny Kwan says she is seeking urgent answers about what has happened to the applications of 2,900 Afghans who helped the Canadian military.

Kwan is demanding Immigration Minister Sean Fraser explain why the Afghans, whose credentials were checked and verified by Canada’s military, have not had their applications to come to Canada approved.

Defence chief Gen. Wayne Eyre told a parliamentary committee Monday night that the Defence Department had checked and verified the credentials of 3,800 Afghans, including interpreters, who supported the Canadian military.

Kwan said she is planning to pursue the matter vigorously with the department as the lives of Afghans who helped Canadian troops are in danger from the Taliban.

She also plans to ask if the Immigration Department has lost files of Afghan interpreters who want to come to Canada, saying the government has “betrayed them.”

Global NEWS: Immigration minister pressed on applications of 2,900 Afghans who helped Canada

NDP caucus chair Jenny Kwan says she is seeking urgent answers about what has happened to the applications of 2,900 Afghans who helped the Canadian military.

But the committee heard from Eyre and Bill Matthews, deputy defence minister, that only 900 of them have had their applications to come to Canada accepted so far by the Immigration Department.

HANSARD: Jenny speaks for a national dental care program

HANSARD: Jenny asks if the Bloc will back a bill supporting those living in poverty

HANSARD: Jenny asks if the government will invest in a "for indigenous, by indigenous" housing strategy

IN THE NEWS: Hill Times - Liberals have misplaced priorities for immigration, say opposition MPs

“Some of the funding allocations within the budget were misplaced. The government’s priorities are out of place, as it seems that they’re putting more energy towards strengthening the bureaucracy that has contributed to the government’s failure, than helping to resettle, and to process applications, and [address] the backlog,” said NDP MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.) in an interview.
Kwan said the government needs to provide further transparency about what exactly the purpose of these funds will be, particularly as they are going to CBSA and CSIS—two organizations that are not exactly tasked with welcoming asylum-seekers in.
“When they say they’re strengthening the integrity of the government system, maybe what they can do is strengthen the integrity of the system by ensuring that applications are processed in a timely manner,” she quipped.

Global NEWS: Trudeau defends Canada’s resettlement of Afghans, says ’there’s much more to do'

NDP MP Jenny Kwan on Wednesday called for the government to waive documentation requirements for Afghan refugees and streamline the process to allow people to enter Canada quicker.

Kwan said in a statement that the government had requested “even more documentation” from family members of Afghan interpreters’ families seeking asylum. She said Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) had emailed the interpreters stating they had 30 days to submit additional documents for their resettlement or their applications could be refused.

“The families have already submitted abundant documentation to IRCC when they first applied. Now, eight months later, the government is putting up more hurdles for [them],” Kwan said.

“While the families flee for their lives in Afghanistan, the government is burying their loved ones with more onerous paperwork. For some, this may as well be a death sentence.”

Kwan called for the Liberals to waive the documentation requirements, issue single travel journey documents to the family members to reach a third country and organize evacuation flights to reunite them with their loved ones in Canada. The NDP is also calling on the government to waive the refugee determination requirements and allow the families to apply for the special immigration measures from within Afghanistan.
“Former Afghan interpreters are part of the Canadian military family — they deserve recognition,” Kwan said.

CTV NEWS: Treat our families as well as Ukrainian refugees: Afghan interpreters

NDP critic on Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Jenny Kwan criticized the government for subjecting interpreters to "even more bureaucratic red tape" just days after the interpreters held a protest and began a hunger strike to highlight their plight last month.
Kwan cited an email to Afghan interpreters from immigration authorities saying they have 30 days to submit additional documents or their families' applications may be refused.

"While the families flee for their lives in Afghanistan, the government is burying their loved ones with more onerous paperwork," Kwan said. "For some, this may as well be a death sentence."

Globe NEWS: Former Afghan embassy guards plead with Ottawa: ‘Please don’t forget us’

NDP Immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the Prime Minister is making up excuses for not providing the travel documents, especially for security guards and interpreters who received high-security vetting to be able to work at the embassy.

”Frankly they are running out of excuses. People’s lives are on the line,” she said. “People are not saying help us get out of Afghanistan. They are saying give us the travel documents so we can get out of Afghanistan and to safety.”

Ms. Kwan emphasized that the House of Commons Immigration committee unanimously passed a motion last week calling on the government to simplify the processing for Afghans, as it has for Ukrainians fleeing Russian aggression.

Mohammad, who worked at the embassy as a full-time guard since 2013, said the Taliban are hunting Afghans who worked for Canada and other Western countries and they are getting help from informants.

He and his wife and three young children are in hiding. They abandoned their home in Kabul and are relying on safe houses to avoid being caught by the Taliban.

MEDIA RELEASE - Liberals must remove red tape to bring families of Afghan interpreters and collaborators to Canada

OTTAWA – Today, NDP Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Jenny Kwan called out the Liberal government for requiring Afghan interpreters to complete even more bureaucratic red tape before they can bring their families to safety in Canada. Only days after the interpreters held a protest and hunger strike to highlight the already frustrating and lengthy process in March, the government requested even more documentation from their family members seeking asylum.

“Afghan interpreters and their families have gone through enough,” said Kwan. “Just days after their protest, the government decided to complicate the process even more for these Afghan interpreters and their family members threatened by the Taliban. While the families flee for their lives in Afghanistan, the government is burying their loved ones with more onerous paperwork. For some, this may as well be a death sentence.”