Over 30K Afghans have arrived in Canada but ‘significant challenges’ remain, Ottawa says – National | 24CA News
Over 30,000 Afghan refugees have now arrived in Canada since their nation fell to the Taliban, the federal authorities mentioned Wednesday after the most recent flight arrived from Pakistan at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.
The flight included individuals who helped Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, members of the family of former interpreters and privately sponsored refugees, the federal government mentioned.
Canada promised to resettle no less than 40,000 Afghans by means of plenty of particular applications after the Taliban swept again into energy in 2021.
That goal is about to be hit by the top of this yr, the federal government mentioned Wednesday.
“Although the Afghanistan resettlement effort is one of the largest and most difficult in Canada’s history, we remain committed to maximizing every opportunity to support these vulnerable Afghans in their transition to a better life in Canada,” Immigration Minister Sean Fraser mentioned in a press release.
Ottawa has confronted criticism for its chaotic makes an attempt to get folks to security because the Taliban took over Kabul, with many declaring that Canada closed its embassy sooner than different nations did.
Wednesday’s assertion from the federal government admitted the shortage of a diplomatic and navy presence within the nation posed “significant challenges” in getting folks out of Afghanistan who want to depart.
“We are navigating a constantly evolving situation in Afghanistan, where movement continues to be very difficult and dangerous,” the assertion mentioned.
As of the top of March, 18,000 folks had utilized to come back to Canada as a part of a particular immigration program meant for individuals who helped Canadian diplomats and troops throughout the mission, in addition to their households.
So far, 11,990 functions had been accepted, however solely 9,875 had arrived in Canada by March 30, in response to knowledge revealed by the Immigration Department.
Another particular program has been created to assist the prolonged members of the family of former interpreters who’re already dwelling in Canada. The authorities says it goals to convey 5,000 folks in by means of that stream, and 1,285 had arrived by the top of March.
Another 15,875 individuals who fall below government-assisted and privately sponsored refugee applications had been in Canada by that point.
The authorities has additionally confronted criticism over the size of time it takes many Afghans who want to come to Canada to be processed. At-risk Afghans should first flee to a close-by secure third nation that has a Canadian embassy, akin to Pakistan, for biometric screening.
To enter that third nation, they should safe an Afghan passport and a visa, which many nations usually are not accepting, advocates have informed Global News.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau informed reporters on Wednesday the federal government’s focus is presently on hitting the 40,000 goal earlier than exploring subsequent steps, together with increasing the variety of admissions.
“We’re continuing to work on fulfilling those numbers and we’ll look to what we can and must do in the future in other ways,” Trudeau mentioned at a press convention in Winnipeg.
— with recordsdata from the Canadian Press
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
