Image: Afghan refugees. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
The federal government of Canada is being called by the Conservative Party and advocates of Afghan refugees to expand the special immigration program meant to prioritize former employees of the Armed Forces of the Canadian government and their families.
The government’s decision last week was to no longer take new referrals and just process the last of the 18,000 applications to that program.
Conservative immigration critic Jasraj Singh Hallan joined by a number of refugee advocates crititized the government at a press conference on Thursday, for not keeping the program open to more applications with several applicants not having received any responses from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Earlier Thursday, both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Immigration Minister Sean Fraser were asked if they plan to reopen the program to accept more applications, they pointed to the difficulties faced by the government in getting refugees out of Afghanistan with the Taliban now in control.
In spite of Canada’s commitment to resettling Afghan refugees, Trudeau said the complicated situation does not allow getting people out of Afghanistan.
When Fraser’s office said last week that there are other avenues for Afghans who wish to come to Canada, such as a humanitarian program and a program to help families of former military interpreters who are already here Hallan said those programs are also experiencing difficulties and backlogs.
Hallan said he wants the government to work more closely with organizations on the ground and increase coordination with third-party countries to help process and resettle more Afghans.
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