Afghanistan committee  Mr. Chair and honourable members, I'm immensely grateful for the opportunity to speak with you today. I'm here representing Tenth Church refugee ministry and the community of over 150 Afghan refugee claimants we serve. I am from Australia. My husband Samih is from Syria. We met

Afghanistan committee  I'm not sure if you have received a copy of the policy recommendations that I sent out. In that document, I've detailed how we can potentially bring these processes together. First, I think we already have some really great programs, which just need to be expanded. That would me

Afghanistan committee  Thank you for the question. My number one priority on behalf of Afghans living in Canada is that their extended family is able to join them to be safe here in Canada. That is especially for parents, children of any age and siblings, but also, where there is substantiated risk, o

Afghanistan committee  Yes. That's not official yet. I'm going by my maiden name here. I think the reason why Canada is not issuing temporary visas for Afghans where they are for Ukrainians is that there is a perception of badness. I think there is a fear that Afghans fleeing the Taliban may in fact b

Afghanistan committee  Absolutely. That is the message that the Afghan community is pushing for the government. Yes.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you. With regard specifically to families of Afghan Canadians here, I think that if they are in receipt of a visa, then they are able to cross a border to Pakistan and get to Canada, so the Canadian government is able to offer safety to people who are in Afghanistan and ar

Afghanistan committee  Sure. I don't know if there's time, but I would love to give a couple of examples. I would like to give two representative examples of families who could be helped if Canada introduces an expanded special family reunification program specific to the Afghan crisis. At the outset

Afghanistan committee  In my view, this family, and all Afghan families who are at risk, should have the capacity to be resettled in Canada. The current situation is that they cannot be reunified because they are parents and siblings, and therefore they don't fall under the classification of family re

Afghanistan committee  They are, yes.

Afghanistan committee  They could legally, or illegally, leave, but it would substantially help if the Canadian government were to issue a temporary visa for this family.

Afghanistan committee  That's correct. Of course, the travel would be dangerous. There are people actively searching for them to kill them, but it would be possible. Neighbouring countries have the authority to let families through if they have a visa. That would secure their onward journey.

Afghanistan committee  There is substantial risk to that family. Even if they were to make it out to a neighbouring country, some countries are removing Afghan refugees after a maximum of three months. If they were removed back to Afghanistan, they would face incredible risk, because they would be hand

Afghanistan committee  There is risk both to get to the border and at the border. It's a harrowing journey for people to make, knowing that they are on hit lists, that they are being hunted and that if they are identified they can be killed. It's an incredibly difficult journey, but one that many famil

Afghanistan committee  Sorry, I think my colleague wants to respond.

Afghanistan committee  That is absolutely the case. I have applied for ministerial interventions and I am awaiting a response.