(Ottawa) What started as a 30-day fundraising campaign to help Afghan interpreters fleeing the Taliban turned into a painful, chaotic and frustrating eight-month operation for the Veterans Transition Network (RTV). Its director general believes that it is time to put an end to it.
Posted at 9:23 p.m.
The organization began fundraising last summer when the Taliban overthrew the government in Afghanistan, but as Executive Director Oliver Thorne points out, no one expected the commitment to last this long.
“Things kind of evolved from an emergency evacuation crisis into a long-term migration operation,” Thorne said.
The network will end its fundraising campaign on May 2, then continue to scale back operations over the next six months to shift its focus to its mental health support programs for veterans.
Non-governmental organizations led by veterans have mobilized to rescue Afghans who served with the Canadian Armed Forces during the war. They coordinated exfiltration operations to enable them to flee to neighboring countries before they could come to Canada.
According to Mr. Thorne, bureaucratic maze makes it difficult to help these people submit the right documents and causes a bottleneck in the federal system. He calls on the government to relaunch its consular services in Afghanistan.
The ability to provide consular assistance in Afghanistan would ease a lot of those tensions. This is really where the bottleneck is.
Veterans Transition Network Executive Director Oliver Thorne
Retired Major General Denis Thompson is part of this network of veterans, refugee advocates and volunteers who help people navigate a complex system of visas and other documentation. He sits on the board of the RTV in addition to acting as an advisor to the board of Aman Lara, a Canadian NGO that operates a network of safe havens in Afghanistan.
He says about 700 people in Pakistan are currently unable to fly to Canada because they do not have exit visas from that country. Another group of about 500 individuals is said to be ready to leave Afghanistan, but has nowhere to go.
“They have the right documents,” Mr. Thompson insists. But the pipe is clogged. »
Meanwhile, about 450 of those stuck in Pakistan have expired visas and could be forced to return to Afghanistan to renew them, putting them at greater risk of Taliban reprisals.
Political upheaval in Pakistan following recent elections could make it even more difficult for Canada to negotiate changes to the mandatory exit visa system, fears Denis Thompson. In his view, these changes should have been made by now.
“These are people who have already been employed by Canada, who have already put themselves in danger,” he continued. I just find it a little strange that we don’t put more effort into helping those who have helped us. »
For his part, Oliver Thorne says he is angry to see that Afghans are not entitled to this “special path” offered to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.
Both men feel the Canadian government needs to do better to facilitate the work of NGOs and humanitarian groups on the ground. They nonetheless salute the efforts of the “hard workers” at the departments of Global Affairs Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
“Much of our work could have been delegated to public servants who want to get results, but who don’t seem to have the legal tools to do so,” said Thompson. This is what annoys me and it is a ministerial responsibility. »
Sanctions prohibit Canadians from spending money in Afghanistan that will fall into the hands of the Taliban, whether done directly or indirectly. This means that requests for funding from Ottawa have been put on ice and that operations in the field are limited.
In an open letter sent on April 4 to the Ministers of Justice, Public Security, Foreign Affairs and International Development, nine humanitarian organizations including the Red Cross pleaded with the government to change its position by mentioning that other states had exempted humanitarian groups from their sanctions.
“Examples of ‘indirect’ contributions may include paying taxes on employee salaries, which is mandatory for any organization that wants to continue working in Afghanistan,” the letter reads.
Denis Thompson adds: “To be frank, a good part of the solutions to these problems come from the NGOs while the problems come from the government. »
The Canadian government has promised to allow 40,000 Afghan refugees to settle in the country. So far, more than 10,600 people have arrived in Canada.
The RTV prides itself on having collected 4.6 million in donations and having helped 2,061 people to get out of Afghanistan.
Oliver Thorne says he is looking to identify another organization capable of taking over before reiterating that he is “really proud of the incredible work done by my team”.