Afghan Interpreters, Others Fast-tracking to Canada

[OldSolduer]

This guy contributed more to a high profile Canadian effort (Afghan war) than a vast majority of Canadians ever would or could, yet gets 0% of the credit, and it appears 0% of what we offered for the help.

All that, only to be in Ukraine of all places where Russia just couldn’t stop itself from being… Russia.

I'm all for Ukranians being brought here but the total lack of effort by the GoC to bring Afghan interpreters that risked and continue to risk their lives for OUR troops is unethical and tells the world "Canada doesn't give a sh!t about you"

 

[CBH99]

I'm all for Ukranians being brought here but the total lack of effort by the GoC to bring Afghan interpreters that risked and continue to risk their lives for OUR troops is unethical and tells the world "Canada doesn't give a sh!t about you"

Agreed.

But if we’re being totally objective here, that total lack of effort stemmed from when Harper was in office, and the lack of effort has just remained status quo.

Im blown away that we can bring in 25,000 Syrians with a couple of phone calls - and even have the PM meet them as they disembark the plane… yet we couldn’t fly a few dudes and their families out of a theatre we had flights to/from almost daily?

I’m not sure how much of a sh*t the GoC gives about most Canadians of inconvenience, or non-Canadians once they have served their purpose.

(Note - I think veterans probably fall into the category of who they’d label as Canadians of inconvenience.)

 

[The Bread Guy]

Can the immigration system walk & chew gum @ the same time? Discuss ....

Afghan interpreters who have made it to Canada say their family members fleeing the Taliban deserve the same treatment as Ukrainians escaping from Russian troops.

At a parliamentary committee on Monday, they called on the government to allow their families into Canada as easily as Ukrainians.

The interpreters complained their family members are stalled with stacks of forms and demands for travel documents that are difficult to obtain from the Taliban ...

I get it that security can be an issue here, but more than one government of more than one colour team jersey has had a crack at this - with seemingly weak results all round.

 

[OldSolduer]

Can the immigration system walk & chew gum @ the same time? Discuss ....

I get it that security can be an issue here, but more than one government of more than one colour team jersey has had a crack at this - with seemingly weak results all round.

Agreed. There is more than enough blame to go around.

 

[CBH99]

Can the immigration system walk & chew gum @ the same time? Discuss ....

I get it that security can be an issue here, but more than one government of more than one colour team jersey has had a crack at this - with seemingly weak results all round.

If the 25,000 Syrians didn’t have to fill out stacks of paperwork, and we’ve minimized that paperwork for Ukrainians fleeing the current situation… seems like a clear message from the GoC.

- How essential is some of that paperwork in the first place, if it can be waived or minimized when convenient?

- these people are fleeing the country because of the fear they have of the Taliban.

Why are we asking them to obtain this paperwork from the very people who they are afraid will kill them?

How do we expect them to correctly fill out the stack of paperwork when a large percentage of the country can’t read or write?



Security is an issue, yes.

But 25,000 Syrians at the drop of a hat would have had similar security concerns, I’d imagine? And that seemed to pan out.

We should be able to do the same for a few hundred Afghans who actually did something to earn the trip.


0.02

 

[The Bread Guy]

Veterans Transition Network appears to be out of energy/patience with The Immigration Machine (Globe & Mail)

A Canadian veterans group is giving up its efforts to evacuate Afghans who supported Ottawa’s military and diplomatic mission in the country, citing staff burnout and a federal immigration system that is overburdened with red tape.

The Veterans Transition Network, which says it raised $3.6-million and helped rescue 2,061 Afghans since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August, 2021, is refocusing on its main priority of helping Canadian veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental-health problems.

Oliver Thorne, VTN executive director, said onerous government paperwork, lack of federal funding and the difficulty of finding safe routes out of Afghanistan forced the charitable organization to give up its evacuation work.

Mr. Thorne said VTN staff are exhausted from performing double duty, especially the additional workload of handling the complicated application process put in place by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The paperwork and security vetting causes significant delays in approvals of special visas for Canada’s Afghan allies, he said.

“What we are seeing is government policy that is very risk averse to the point of being selfish, and it is affecting organizations like ours,” he said, stressing that the fault does not lie with IRCC public servants.

“We are connecting with really hard-working individuals who really want to help, but it seems they are hog-tied by policy that is just not aligned with the real needs of this evacuation.” ...

Archive link if previous G&M link doesn't work for you.

 

[OldSolduer]

Veterans Transition Network appears to be out of energy/patience with The Immigration Machine (Globe & Mail)

Archive link if previous G&M link doesn't work for you.

The hypocrisy of the Fedral government is really astounding but not surprising, and I’ll go as far to say it was like this under former governments as well.

 

[The Bread Guy]

The hypocrisy of the Fedral government is really astounding but not surprising, and I’ll go as far to say it was like this under former governments as well.

That's why I have to wonder why it seems to be so systemic (bureaucratic?), given that both Team Blue & Team Red have had a crack and haven't been able to come up with a more efficient, timely way of dealing with this.

 

[OldSolduer]

That's why I have to wonder why it seems to be so systemic (bureaucratic?), given that both Team Blue & Team Red have had a crack and haven't been able to come up with a more efficient, timely way of dealing with this.

Perhaps it’s the bureaucracy who prizes “process” over “results”.

After all the Khadr clan made it here somehow….right?

 

[The Bread Guy]

1) Not just Canada juggling priorities.
2) How RUS loves to stir the divisiveness pot (links to RUS state media)

Afghan refugees evicted to make room for Ukrainians – media

Afghans in German refugee accommodation centers are reportedly being moved out to make room for a wave of arriving Ukrainians

www.rt.com

As @DarthPutin KGB puts it ....

 

[The Bread Guy]

This ....

Canada’s immigration backlog now exceeds 2 million persons

Immigration Canada's processing inventory now stands at more than 2 million people across all lines of business. The temporary and permanent residence backlog has increased. Meanwhile, the citizenship backlog went down to about 400,000 persons in April, compared to more than 453,000 in March...

www.cicnews.com

... seems to be, in part, leading to this

Afghan interpreters fear families 'forgotten' by Canada

Former interpreters say their families face major bureaucratic hurdles in effort to reach Canada.

www.bbc.com

 

[The Bread Guy]

Sooooooooooooo, are they still being reviewed or are they lost?

The status of 2,900 applications from Afghans vetted by the Department of National Defence (DND) remains a mystery, one month after senior DND officials testified that only 900 of 3,800 vetted applications had been approved by the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) department.

“That means that the government, the immigration department, has lost some [2,900] files,” NDP Immigration Critic Jenny Kwan told Global News.
“They cannot find them. They do not know where they are. And people’s lives are hanging in the balance because those applications are not being processed.”

“I don’t have any reason to believe any files are lost,” Immigration Minister Sean Fraser told a parliamentary committee on May 12.

His office reiterated to Global News on Wednesday that the files aren’t lost, but he declined an interview request and wouldn’t provide any information about where they might be ...

 

[GK .Dundas]

Sooooooooooooo, are they still being reviewed or are they lost?

The Minister has already told you they are not missing. He just doesn't know where they are.
Surely you can see the difference....

 

[The Bread Guy]

The Minister has already told you they are not missing. He just doesn't know where they are.
Surely you can see the difference....

Silly me ....

 

[GK .Dundas]

1) Not just Canada juggling priorities.
2) How RUS loves to stir the divisiveness pot (links to RUS state media)

Afghan refugees evicted to make room for Ukrainians – media

Afghans in German refugee accommodation centers are reportedly being moved out to make room for a wave of arriving Ukrainians

www.rt.com

As @DarthPutin KGB puts it ....
View attachment 70271

And you better believe they are doing it here. Anyone see Facebook lately?

 

[Good2Golf]

The Minister has already told you they are not missing. He just doesn't know where they are.
Surely you can see the difference....

Indeed.

The Afghan interprets and their families are just experiencing the status of their files differently than the Minister.

 

[OldSolduer]

Indeed.

The Afghan interprets and their families are just experiencing the status of their files differently than the Minister.

It’s incredibly sad and disgusting how we treated the interpreters is it not?

 

[Good2Golf]

It’s incredibly sad and disgusting how we treated the interpreters is it not?

I would say beyond sad and disgusting…it’s a travesty. The Canadian Federal Government appears chronically unable to feel shame.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Careful what you wish for when you toughen up terrorism laws .....

Humanitarian and veterans’ groups trying to evacuate people who worked for Canada’s military and diplomatic mission in Afghanistan face major hurdles because Ottawa is strictly enforcing anti-terrorism law.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) say because the federal government is considering Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban a terrorist group, laws prohibiting financing of terrorism prevent them from making basic purchases in Afghanistan to get people out of the country.

Since the Taliban seized power last year, NGO rescue teams have had to carry canisters of gasoline in their jeeps when they enter Afghanistan because it would be illegal to pay gas taxes to the country’s government under the anti-terrorism law. Humanitarian and veterans’ groups say they also can no longer rent hotel rooms the day before their evacuation operations because room taxes would benefit the Taliban rulers.

The groups say their pick-up sorties for evacuees are now done on busy streets in Kabul or other Afghan cities, increasing the danger.

The Anti-terrorism Act, an amendment to the Criminal Code, makes it illegal for Canadian funds to end up in the hands of terrorists. The Taliban is on Canada’s terrorist watch list and outlawed by Ottawa, even though it now runs Afghanistan ...

Archived link in case previous one doesn't work

 

[The Bread Guy]

Careful what you wish for when you toughen up terrorism laws .....

Archived link in case previous one doesn't work

Looks like someone's MAYBE wanting to fix things - we'll see ...

Anti-Taliban law could be tweaked to get more humanitarian aid to Afghans: minister

A law outlawing any dealings with the Taliban, which charities complain is impeding their ability to help needy Afghans, could be adjusted by the federal government to give more flexibility to aid agencies.

www.ctvnews.ca