‘Their lives matter’: Afghan Canadians’ plea for help to save loved ones as Kabul falls to the Taliban
With embassies boarded up and foreign helicopters racing to ship diplomats to the Kabul airport, the only escape route from the Taliban, a 20-year Western experiment aimed at freeing Afghanistan is officially over.
With their embattled president Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country Sunday, Afghans watched in horror as militants waving Taliban flags entering into the capital city, the last frontier of the Afghan security forces, and taking over the presidential palace.
A Taliban official has said the group would soon announce the creation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in Kabul, the name of the country under the insurgents before they were ousted by U.S.-led forces after the 9/11 attacks.
Fearing the return of the militants' brutal rule and notorious disregard of womens' rights, Afghans were seen rushing to the airport area, which was still guarded by foreign forces, as others remained in parks and open spaces throughout the city begging for foreign rescues.
Despite Canada's last-ditch effort the past few weeks to resettle Afghan refugees, including interpreters and civilians who worked alongside Canadian forces, Ottawa shut down its embassy in Kabul and suspended diplomatic operations in the country on Sunday.
Canada firmly condemns the escalating violence, and we are heartbroken at the situation the Afghan people find themselves in today. This is especially so given the sacrifices of Canadians who believed - and continue to believe - in the future of Afghanistan,," Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau said in front of Rideau Hall after meeting with Gov. Gen. Mary Simon to dissolve the Parliament.
We will continue to work with allies and the international community to ensure those efforts were not in vain. We are committed to Afghanistan and the Afghan people."
Advocates said they had already seen the writing on the wall for the chaos as soon as U.S. President Joe Biden announced in April the full troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by Aug. 31. What they didn't see was how quickly the Afghan security forces and regime crumbled.
The Taliban are all over the city right now. There's thousands of Afghans now piled up at the Kabul airport. They're desperately hoping that they can get on some kind of flight. This is the Fall of Saigon moment," said retired lieutenant Dave Morrow of The Afghan-Canadian Interpreters - a grassroots advocacy group made up mostly of war veterans, active military members and supporters.
We predicted it and the government did nothing. And so now there's blood on their hands, as we predicted as well. And these are the things we didn't want to be prescient on."
Afghans in Canada have glued to television and social media while scrambling to stay in touch with their loved ones back home through intermittent internet access in a country now under the complete control of the militants.
Massome, who came here alone as a refugee in 2019, said people from her neighbourhood in Kabul all fled to areas closer to the airport in hopes that they can tag on one of those foreign government flights to get out of the country.
On Saturday, the Toronto woman's husband left their family home in an attempt to get a visa for him and their two sons and two daughters - between 6 and 15 - to Iran as a last resort while waiting for Ottawa to grant her family their permanent residence, which has been in the queue for 18 months.
The Iranian embassy was closed and he was stuck at the myriad Taliban checkpoints, with three of the kids still at home. Thankfully, a friend picked them all up to stay with him at his already congested house near the airport.
I couldn't sleep because I'm very scared for my daughters. I fear what would happen to them with the Taliban," said Massoma, who was granted asylum in Canada two months after her arrival and asked her last name be withheld for her family's safety.
This is a very serious situation. I beg the Canadian government to take care of my family. Their lives matter," she added before she was overcome by emotions.
Toronto resident Daud, whose wife and four sons have been waiting to reunite with him since he fled the Taliban to Canada in September 2019, said insurgents have freed prisoners in jail, who are now looting shops, banks and shuttered government offices.
I always thought Kabul would be safe because the U.S. troops would be there. The city couldn't be defeated," said the physician, who used to work with the health ministry in the Ghazni Province and was targeted by insurgents. He, too, asked his last name be withheld for the safety of his family.
There's no more Afghan police and security forces. Who's there to protect my family? I don't know what to do. There's no water. There's nothing to eat."
Morrow of the Afghan-Canadian Interpreters said a network of war vets is trying to help the Afghan interpreters and civilians they worked with till the last minute.
He and other volunteers have been getting text messages from local Afghans they've evacuated to safe houses, begging them for help to save their children.
This is the hardest thing to take because there was a window of hope. And now I fear that there is no more window of hope. So what do they do? They stop communicating. We stop communicating clearly," said Morrow.
This is a huge moral failing for the Canadian government. It is causing severe moral injury, not just me, but to all of the other veterans that are involved in this."
On July 23, Ottawa launched the resettlement program to bring home its former employees, including translators, drivers, cleaners and cooks, who risked their lives to support the Canadian mission during the war and are now being targeted by the Taliban as the U.S. and NATO forces withdraw from the country by Aug. 31.
As recently as Friday, the Liberal government announced it was expanding Canada's resettlement program to welcome 20,000 Afghans, targeting those who belong to groups vulnerable to persecution by the Taliban, including women leaders, human rights defenders, journalists, persecuted minorities and LGBTQI members.
In a joint statement Sunday, Foreign Minister Marc Garneau, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said that the embassy will reopen as soon as the security situation in Kabul allows Canada to guarantee appropriate service and adequate security for its staff.
Our ongoing work to bring Afghans to safety in Canada under the special immigration measures will continue and will remain a top priority. We will continue to work in close coordination on this commitment," the statement said.
The government of Canada, including the Canadian Armed Forces, is working closely with allies, including the U.S., to ensure processing capacity for the ongoing special immigration measures program."
Andrew Rusk of Not Left Behind said the Liberal government had had months if not years to help its formerly employed interpreters and civilians.
This weekend Canada closed its embassy and the Taliban entered Kabul, effectively halting the government's extraction efforts," said Rusk, whose group was formed by the family of late Canadian Army Capt. Nichola Goddard, who was killed by the Taliban during a mission in 2006.
Our slow and ineffective response has barely scratched the surface in helping those that helped us. As our government pursues a majority, they've turned their back on both Afghanistan and our veteran community."
Alexander Cohen, the immigration minister's press secretary, said Ottawa is working around the clock with allies to get additional flights to help Afghan civilians out of the country. Although the Canadian embassy is closed, he said immigration applications to resettle the locals are processed remotely by visa offices in nearby countries.
With files from Associated Press
Nicholas Keung is a Toronto-based reporter covering immigration for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @nkeung