LGBTQ refugee group calls on Ottawa to help Queer Afghans resettle in Canada – National | 24CA News

LGBTQ refugee group Rainbow Railroad says it has solely been in a position to resettle 4 per cent of the practically 3,800 Afghans who’ve requested it for assist for the reason that Taliban took over their nation.

The Toronto-based group paperwork persecution on the premise of Afghans’ gender identities and sexual orientations in a report it launched Monday, arguing that Ottawa’s resettlement packages don’t account for individuals who can’t safely flee Afghanistan to neighbouring international locations.

“A number of LGBTQI+ people reported being beaten and subject to physical violence by the Taliban outside of detention settings, either in their homes during a search, or in public places,” reads the report.

“Rape and sexual violence were mentioned in many requests for help, including sexual assault by family and community members in an environment of impunity.”

Afghans reported to Rainbow Railroad that the Taliban searched their telephones, recognized them on social media and incentivized others to surveil and report on them.

During the roughly four-year interval main as much as the Taliban takeover in August 2021, the group mentioned it obtained simply 144 requests for assist.

Since the Taliban takeover, 3,797 folks have requested the group for assist — however simply 180 have reached Canada, with roughly 20 extra anticipated to reach across the finish of this 12 months.

The group has helped resettle one other 67 folks to locations such because the United Kingdom and offered stipends for some Afghans residing in different international locations.

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In June, a parliamentary committee known as on Ottawa to “create a special immigration measure to urgently resettle at least 300 pre-identified LGBTQI+ Afghan refugees.”

Human Rights Watch reported final January that LGBTQ Afghans are being pressured to disclose their former companions, and that those that flee to neighbouring international locations are nonetheless vulnerable to arrest and persecution.

For years, Rainbow Railroad has requested Ottawa to create a devoted pathway for LGBTQ folks fleeing persecution to achieve Canada, following a slew of pilot packages.

The group is now calling on Immigration Minister Sean Fraser to streamline the way in which the division assesses requests for assist from minority teams.

They additionally need Canada to make it simpler for folks to hunt resettlement _ notably Afghans who can’t discover a protected technique to a neighbouring nation to file a declare.

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Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada didn’t instantly present a response.

NDP foreign-affairs critic Heather McPherson mentioned the federal government is failing its ethical responsibility to guard these most vulnerable to Taliban persecution.

“It is horrifying. These are people that are at grave risk of losing their lives; these are some of the most vulnerable people in the world right now,” she mentioned.

“Canada has an obligation. We have an ability to help and it’s immoral for us to not be doing more to help this community.”

She famous that the NDP reached out to the Liberals about the necessity to defend minorities because the U.S. introduced in April 2021 that it will pull out troops.

Canada has resettled 26,735 of the 40,000 Afghans it has pledged to carry to the nation, as of Dec. 14.

This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Dec. 20, 2022.

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