Afghan Interpreters, Others Fast-tracking to Canada

[Altair]

Any word on rhe disposition of our Gurka embassy security? Or are they on their own?

it sounds like Canada and others will continue to evacuate people in Kabul for as long as the airport and runway are secure.

If they missed the initial rush hopefully they can find their way out in the coming week(s)

 

[Remius]

Who will rescue Nepalis from Afghanistan?

www.nepalitimes.com

 

[OldSolduer]

You can expect a letter to the editor that will be written by me to several newspapers. I am disgusted by this turn of events and our abandonment of allies.

 

[brihard]

Any word on rhe disposition of our Gurka embassy security? Or are they on their own?

I’ve seen nothing, unfortunately. I hope they made it to the airport already. That’s probably going to be the hardest part.

 

[CBH99]

It seems like somewhere in the back channels, someone with some power & influence on our side was able to arrange something with their counterpart on their side. Awfully nice of the Taliban to secure the airport & allow for evacuation operations to resume - all of a sudden...

 

[Good2Golf]

It seems like somewhere in the back channels, someone with some power & influence on our side was able to arrange something with their counterpart on their side. Awfully nice of the Taliban to secure the airport & allow for evacuation operations to resume - all of a sudden...

Seems that Trump’s deal with the Taliban must have been fairly inclusive. This does not actually surprise me, re: America securing its interests and other nations benefitting collectively from the overflow of its influence.

 

[Weinie]

It seems like somewhere in the back channels, someone with some power & influence on our side was able to arrange something with their counterpart on their side. Awfully nice of the Taliban to secure the airport & allow for evacuation operations to resume - all of a sudden...

Or maybe the Taliban themselves are astonished how quickly they have asserted control, and have read the doomsday scenarios that most Western media have published, and are mounting a strat PR campaign.

 

[Brad Sallows]

"Golden bridge". Avoiding unnecessary battles. Get the westerners out; conduct the pogroms; then there will be time to count coup on foreigners.

 

[Mills Bomb]

Does anyone have any more concrete information on what happened to the Gurkha's at the Canadian embassy? Seems a bit vague so far on exactly what happened.

I realize this mess is still unfolding, it certainly seems to me that if we truly left behind this many people to fend for themselves at our own embassy this is very concerning. Maybe it's a result of bad intel from the Americans, but still, we had so much time to deal with this and I'm sure a lot of people in positions to do something must have suspected this could happen.

 

[Mills Bomb]

From the article above;

"Globalnews reported that Canada had not approved the evacuation of 100 Nepali guards from its embassy in Kabul, even after its other staff were flown out."

 

[daftandbarmy]

From the article above;

"Globalnews reported that Canada had not approved the evacuation of 100 Nepali guards from its embassy in Kabul, even after its other staff were flown out."

Because the Gurkhas and Taliban are such great buddies, right?

 

[The Bread Guy]

Seems that Trump’s deal with the Taliban must have been fairly inclusive. This does not actually surprise me, re: America securing its interests and other nations benefitting collectively from the overflow of its influence.

Could be a bit of that (although it's intriguing that all references to said deal have been erased from the Republican National Committee's web page - Google Cache still has it for now, as does archive.org), and/or all sorts of other machinations we can't even fathom.

Or maybe the Taliban themselves are astonished how quickly they have asserted control, and have read the doomsday scenarios that most Western media have published, and are mounting a strat PR campaign.

Never say never, indeed ...

Meanwhile, a bit from Nepalese media, apparently from the horse's mouth, as of yesterday ....

... Birendra Godar of Rupa Rural Municipality-1 had been working as a security guard at the Embassy of Canada in Kabul for the past 11 years. The sudden uprising of the Taliban force has put him and many other fellow Nepalis like him in a difficult state. They have pleaded with the government of Nepal for their immediate rescue. Many of them are waiting for the government's assistance in hotels across Kabul.

According to Godar, as many as 200 Nepali and Indian citizens who worked at the Canadian embassy and the German embassy in Kabul are staying at the hotel near the airport. “We are all staying at the Johak Village Hotel near the airport. Bullets are being fired outside. We are at high risk and plead for our immediate rescue. Citizens from Nepal, India and many other countries are stranded at the moment,” Godar said.

“We served the Canadian government for 11 years, but we were left stranded in a very difficult situation,” Yash Bahadur Baral Magar, a Nepali citizen working at the Canadian embassy said.

Similarly, Deepak Gurung, an Indian national, who also worked at the Canadian embassy for 12 years, is also currently staying at the hotel. “We are in a very difficult situation. We cannot even go outside as we are unsure of what will happen. We are living in constant fear,” Gurung said.

According to Gurung, they were left at the hotel by the security company and were told that a plane would come from Canada to take them to Istanbul from where they will be transported to their respective countries.

However, the airplanes meant to arrive for their rescue have not arrived due to the risk of the Talibans even as the airport has been taken under control by the US military forces. “Nothing can be said at the moment. Anything can happen to us if we are not rescued. We are stranded in Afghanistan and our family members are worried,” Gurung said ...

While doing the right thing should be first & foremost, I'm sure people making decisions haven't forgotten what it cost Canada the last time Nepali security staff in Canada's employ were harmed in Afghanistan.

 

[OldSolduer]

This is going to bite us in the ass. It should be an election issue but sadly it will a sideshow forgotten by most Canadians.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Trust and credibility. Very hard to earn, very easy to burn.

 

[ballz]

For the past twenty years we've been doing exactly that. This is the result. Ask any veteran how much fun it was working with ANA personnel who show up in flip flops and rusty AKs that may or may not work. Or adjust the sights to the maximum elevation to "turn up the power."

I was thinking more along the lines of arming every citizen... I'm not sure trying to create a standing army was a good strategy, might be way too much of a first world idea for a third world problem.

 

[Altair]

I was thinking more along the lines of arming every citizen... I'm not sure trying to create a standing army was a good strategy, might be way too much of a first world idea for a third world problem.

Things we learned.

Tribal societies do not work well in standing armies.

 

[OldSolduer]

You can expect a letter to the editor that will be written by me to several newspapers. I am disgusted by this turn of events and our abandonment of allies.

I'd like to post it here too if the mods are ok with it.

 

[OldSolduer]

I have watched this tragedy unfold over several years now. I can say I have seen worse but in this one we as Canadians are complicit in it.

The announcement by the President of the USA that all American troops would be withdrawn by September 11, 2021 should have been a warning to all of us that the Taliban would at the the very least attempt to seize power once more and rule Afghanistan with an iron fist. The speed at which they did that was stunning to say the least.

To that end, did Global Affairs Canada and the Immigration Department have contingency plans in place to expedite the repatriation of those Afghan citizens and their families that aided our troops? By the looks of it, they did not. They were insisting on a bureaucratic process that may take months to complete. Or maybe the Afghans were "asking for more than we can give".

The announcement that Canada would take 20,000 Afghan refugees is a welcome sign, but I would daresay none of those 20,000 are in Kandahar or Kabul or near Spin Boldak, Massum Ghar or in the Panjiway District. This is smoke and mirrors, hiding the true human tragedy that is unfolding before us.

I'm saddened by the fate that awaits the Afghans who aided our soldiers. Once the journalists and media have departed Afghanistan the Taliban will extract their revenge. The fate of the Afghans will not be a pleasant one.

I'm saddened for the veterans of Afghanistan. I served with many of the soldiers of 2 PPCLI that were deployed to Afghanistan. The "terps" as the interpreters were referred to risked their lives and the lives of their families to aid our troops. They gained the respect of our soldiers and in some cases forged bonds that can only be forged under extreme circumstances - like being ambushed by the Taliban. Our soldiers rotated home, while the terps remained to help the next contingent.

Part of me is angry. I am angry with the lackadaisical response by our PM and cabinet to a genuine human tragedy that we as a nation are complicit in. Instead our Prime Minister calls an election. We failed our allies. Bureaucratic red tape, dithering and inaction by this Prime Minister and cabinet will cost the lives of Afghan people who called us friends an allies.

The President of Afghanistan deserves some very special scorn. He ran away - in essence abandoning his nation and his people. He is a coward. His insistence that Afghan citizens required a passport to leave Afghanistan, even as he knew the Taliban were marching towards Kabul, is especially heinous. By the way, when he deserted his nation and his people, did he have a passport? Rats deserting a sinking ship behave better than this pompous arrogant human being.

This inaction by our nation saddens me. We used to stand for principles. We used to honour our agreements with allies and those who served with us. Now it appears this nation stands for nothing and can't be bothered to honour agreements. It is certainly not the Canada I knew. Its sad.


Mods feel free to remove if necessary

 

[Maxman1]

I was thinking more along the lines of arming every citizen.

That's kind of the case already. Something usually taught on personnel searches is that in countries like Afghanistan, it's very common for ordinary people to own and carry AKs (in the context of pers search, that means someone carrying a rifle is not, in and of itself, an indication they are a combatant).

 

[CBH99]

I have watched this tragedy unfold over several years now. I can say I have seen worse but in this one we as Canadians are complicit in it.

The announcement by the President of the USA that all American troops would be withdrawn by September 11, 2021 should have been a warning to all of us that the Taliban would at the the very least attempt to seize power once more and rule Afghanistan with an iron fist. The speed at which they did that was stunning to say the least.

To that end, did Global Affairs Canada and the Immigration Department have contingency plans in place to expedite the repatriation of those Afghan citizens and their families that aided our troops? By the looks of it, they did not. They were insisting on a bureaucratic process that may take months to complete. Or maybe the Afghans were "asking for more than we can give".

The announcement that Canada would take 20,000 Afghan refugees is a welcome sign, but I would daresay none of those 20,000 are in Kandahar or Kabul or near Spin Boldak, Massum Ghar or in the Panjiway District. This is smoke and mirrors, hiding the true human tragedy that is unfolding before us.

I'm saddened by the fate that awaits the Afghans who aided our soldiers. Once the journalists and media have departed Afghanistan the Taliban will extract their revenge. The fate of the Afghans will not be a pleasant one.

I'm saddened for the veterans of Afghanistan. I served with many of the soldiers of 2 PPCLI that were deployed to Afghanistan. The "terps" as the interpreters were referred to risked their lives and the lives of their families to aid our troops. They gained the respect of our soldiers and in some cases forged bonds that can only be forged under extreme circumstances - like being ambushed by the Taliban. Our soldiers rotated home, while the terps remained to help the next contingent.

Part of me is angry. I am angry with the lackadaisical response by our PM and cabinet to a genuine human tragedy that we as a nation are complicit in. Instead our Prime Minister calls an election. We failed our allies. Bureaucratic red tape, dithering and inaction by this Prime Minister and cabinet will cost the lives of Afghan people who called us friends an allies.

The President of Afghanistan deserves some very special scorn. He ran away - in essence abandoning his nation and his people. He is a coward. His insistence that Afghan citizens required a passport to leave Afghanistan, even as he knew the Taliban were marching towards Kabul, is especially heinous. By the way, when he deserted his nation and his people, did he have a passport? Rats deserting a sinking ship behave better than this pompous arrogant human being.

This inaction by our nation saddens me. We used to stand for principles. We used to honour our agreements with allies and those who served with us. Now it appears this nation stands for nothing and can't be bothered to honour agreements. It is certainly not the Canada I knew. Its sad.


Mods feel free to remove if necessary

You didn’t say anything that isn’t true. Disgustingly true.

I am genuinely curious as to whether the Afghan President had a valid passport when he fled. Perhaps he did, but did all of his staff & aids?

Also, is it not the prerogative of the country these people arrive in, to determine what documentation they need to enter? Especially people who would clearly qualify for refugee status?

Afghanistan was collapsing far faster than any of us imagined it would. And he put more effort into creating barriers than he did into streamlining what he could. Then jumped ship as a matter of self preservation.



As disgusting as the response has been from our government in response to this - what really pisses me off is that we’ve had 10 years to hold up our end of the bargain, and haven’t. Evacuating our helpers right now shouldn’t even be an issue.

Contract expires & criteria were met? Here is your immigrant special visa. Off to Canada you go, as agreed. 10 years later?

Pathetic would be a compliment…