(Ottawa) The Conservative opposition in Ottawa is calling on Justin Trudeau’s government to extend a special immigration program set up to bring Afghans who are trying to flee the Taliban to Canada.
Posted at 2:25 p.m.
MP Jasraj Singh Hallan, the party’s immigration critic, says Ottawa failed in its moral obligation to rescue Afghans who helped Canada in its military mission, and who now face Taliban reprisals , who took control of Kabul last year.
MP Hallan was joined Thursday at a press conference in Ottawa by an Afghan man and an Afghan woman who managed to leave their country and reach Canada.
Saeeq Shajjan, a lawyer, says compatriots waited 11 months for a response from the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship – a delay he calls unacceptable.
His compatriot Rahima Paiman said for his part that Afghans are hiding in third countries and that women are particularly threatened under the Taliban regime.
Ottawa has pledged to welcome 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada, but MP Hallan says they face too many bureaucratic hurdles.
“It is unacceptable that after almost a full year since the beginning of this crisis, the government is still abandoning the people who have sacrificed everything to be our allies,” he said. Each additional delay puts more lives at risk. »