Six Afghan families with ties to Canada have been deported from Pakistan, veterans group says
Minister says deportations are throwing up roadblocks as Ottawa works to bring migrants here
Six Afghan families with ties to Canada have been deported from Pakistan back to Afghanistan, a Canadian veterans group says.
"I'm extremely concerned by the current stance that Pakistan has taken to deport Afghans out of the country," said Jon Feltham, an Afghan war veteran and program director for Aman Lara, a non-profit that works to evacuate people from countries in crisis.
"We're taking them out of one hotspot and what we're doing now is we're putting them into another."
Feltham said the deportations underscore the urgent need for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to speed up its processing of paperwork for Afghans trying to come to this country.
At the end of October, Pakistan began rounding up, detaining and deporting those it calls undocumented Afghan migrants.
It's not clear how many Afghans are trying to come to Canada under special immigration measures for former employees of the Canadian Armed Forces or the federal government. Citing operational security, IRCC has refused to disclose the number.
Aman Lara estimates it has helped nearly 2,500 Afghans who have what it calls an "enduring relationship with the government of Canada" to temporarily relocate to Pakistan while they wait on next steps.
The organization said it could not provide an exact head count for the six families. It said the United Nations estimates an average Afghan household includes eight people.
Dropped at the border
CBC News spoke to one man who said he was arrested on Monday in Islamabad while on an errand with his wife. Sanaullah Azizi said he and his wife were transported by bus for 17 hours with other migrants before being dropped at the border with Afghanistan.
Azizi said he was in Pakistan hoping to get approval to move to Canada based on the work of his father-in-law, a former interpreter with the Canadian Armed Forces.
IRCC has been asking Canada-bound Afghans to warn it immediately if they are detained. The department also has suggested that migrants should show documentation to police in Pakistan to prove they're headed for Canada and should not be deported.
Azizi said he never got the chance.
"They snatched my phone right away," he told CBC News through an interpreter. He said the device was his only means of reaching the outside world and had all of his documents loaded on it.
He said it was only returned after they were dropped off at the border. He said he and his wife have been in hiding in Afghanistan ever since.
IRCC still working on further flights out of Pakistan
Immigration Canada has managed to get Afghans on two charter flights out of Islamabad since Pakistan began its crackdown at the start of November.
At a news conference on Friday, Immigration Minister Marc Miller told journalists the government is trying to arrange more flights out.
"It is very much a day-by-day thing ... but we again try to exhaust all options to make sure this is done as quickly as possible," he said.
He admitted the deportations are throwing up new challenges.
"Our operational ability to work in Afghanistan is extremely limited," he said.
Azizi gave CBC News a copy of a letter he received from Immigration Canada after he was able to contact the department following his deportation.
"We understand that you are currently back in Afghanistan and you are facing difficulties due to the security situation in the country," the letter says. "We encourage you to take appropriate measures to ensure your and your family's safety and security."
The letter asks Azizi for updates in the event of changes in his personal circumstances, contact details or physical location.
Aman Lara said it is encouraging Afghans who have been in touch with the organization and subsequently deported to get in touch so that it can work on getting them out of Afghanistan.
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