Government of Canada, Dishonouring a Promise to Afghan Interpreters

"Afghan interpreters were once heroes to the government of Canada. Today they are zeros because they are stressed, depressed, panicking and mentally unstable due to [fears over] the lives of their families and their loved ones."

Ahmad Shoaib, former Afghan interpreter working with Canadian forces in Afghanistan

"The federal government, in particular the IRCC [Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada], should stop playing politics with us."

"It's a matter of life and death for our parents and siblings."

"IRCC promised us and promised the public that if an applicant made it to a third country they would contact IRCC and they would help them to take them out of that country."

"Going to the Taliban and asking them for a family passport, the first question they will ask is why do you need a passport for every single member of your family, who did you work for and who did you have a relationship with, any foreign NATO members."

Ghulam Faizi, former interpreter

"We failed to build a society where freedom and women's rights are respected, where everyone has an opportunity to be what they want, where the dreams of young generations can be seen, and where minorities had a voice."

"This pain will always be hunting us down because we believed in it, we fought for it with the Canadian Forces, shoulder to shoulder."

"The minister of immigration made promises directly to us, and we want him to keep these promises."

"Zero families' members have arrived under this current policy."

Hameed Khan, former interpreter

Taliban members stop women protesting for women’s rights in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Oct. 21, 2021. Photo: Bulent Kilic/AFP via Getty Images

 

Former members of the Canadian military who had served in Afghanistan and valued the work of Afghans serving as interpreters, as staff working for the Canadian embassy, felt morally compelled and obligated to urge the government to speed up its promise of bringing to Canada these hundreds of workers that had been loyal to Canada while stationed in Afghanistan, before the fall of Kabul and the Taliban takeover of the country. 

 

These groups dedicated to extricating former Afghan workers with Canadians overseas, lobbied government, raised funds to supply to former interpreters and their families to enable them to live in safe houses while awaiting rescue, voiced their frustration with government's delays and excessive administrative paperwork hindering speed in rescuing them from a dire fate once the Taliban was in power and seeking revenge on those they considered 'traitors'.

The government of Canada was ill prepared and seemed in no particular hurry to extract people whom they had repeatedly assured they would be rescued and brought to Canada, along with their families. In the end, about 400 Afghan citizens were flown to Canada, leaving hundreds more behind and in danger. Now, and once again, Afghan interpreters who served with Canadian troops and are living in Canada, continue to urge the government to cut excess red tape and make good on their promises. 

In testimony before the House of Commons special committee on Afghanistan, former interpreters charge Canada's IRCC with misleading them; promises of the rescue of family members have been devoid of the sincere efforts their rescue requires. The hundreds of Afghan civilians who responded to Canada's need for local help during Canada's 14-year mission under the NATO umbrella included contractors who worked as interpreters, security staff and embassy employees.

 

People participate in a rally calling on the Canadian government to evacuate the families of interpreters and locally employed civilians who supported the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan as they are being targeted by the Taliban, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

 

Canada had introduced measures to grant Afghan allies permanent residence in Canada in recognition of their contribution to Canada's military in the country opposing the Taliban and post-conflict, digging village wells, building rural elementary schools and health clinics and many other civic initiatives, including training the Afghan police force and military. The promises have never been completed resulting from a desultory speed at which applications are processed and demands by the IRCC for additional, hard-to-obtain official documents 'qualifying' those desperately in need of rescue for what was promised.

At one point the interpreters in Canada, anxiously awaiting the arrival of their family members to Canada as promised, were informed that their family members would not need passports. But that assurance was changed, with the IRCC now claiming that transporting family members without passports would be "difficult". Suggesting that family members approach Taliban authorities directly to access passports. A mind-numbing prospect, and one so obviously likely to place any who might be foolish enough to take such a step, in immediate danger.

The Afghans awaiting reunion with their family members, as promised by the government of Canada, are aghast that they are now being informed that loosening immigration restrictions for family members would result in a number of security issues. This, at a time when they take note that immigration restrictions have been relaxed for Ukrainians fleeing the combustible chaos that has engulfed Ukraine, with Russia's violent invasion.

People participate in a rally calling on the Canadian government to evacuate the families of interpreters and locally employed civilians who supported the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan as they are being targeted by the Taliban, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang