NDP caucus chair Jenny Kwan says she is seeking urgent answers about what has happened to the applications of 2,900 Afghans who helped the Canadian military.
America's torturous, tragic withdrawal from Afghanistan finally ended Monday, leaving Canadian veterans and refugee advocates weighing several bad choices as hundreds of stranded Afghans still wait to hear good news about their applications for passage to Canada.
Ottawa is pinning its hopes on the Kabul airport soon reopening as thousands of people with links to Canada found themselves stranded in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan on Tuesday following the overnight withdrawal of all American soldiers from the country.
Canadians working to evacuate allies from Afghanistan described chaos, fear and disappointment on Sunday, August 15, 2021, as Canada shut down its embassy in Kabul and suspended diplomatic relations amid a Taliban advance in the capital.
The Trudeau government is promising to resettle 20,000 refugees who have already fled Afghanistan even as months of frustration turn to outright fear over the fate of hundreds of former interpreters and their families still stuck in the country.
The email address where Afghan interpreters were told to send their application forms under an urgent resettlement plan crashed on Thursday, July 29, 2021, snarling what applicants and Canadian veterans say is an already chaotic process.