Bramham: Lives of Afghans who worked for Canada in heightened danger & More News Here

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With each passing day, Afghanistan is more and more harmful, particularly for these who worked with international governments, regardless of what duties they carried out.

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The Taliban has labelled all of them as spies. And in a failed state the place 60 per cent are affected by acute starvation, there isn’t a assure that associates or neighbours gained’t act as informants in trade for meals or favours.

Each day, lawyer Saeeq Shajjan grows extra fearful. Kabul-based Shajjan and Associates was Canada’s regulation agency in the nation up till their contract expired on the finish of 2021.

For eight years, Harvard-educated Shajjan and practically two dozen legal professionals did frontline work for Canada. They finalized an $18-million embassy buy, appeared for Canada in native courts, negotiated with the Afghan authorities, and offered no matter different authorized providers have been wanted.

Last July, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to supply refuge to 18,000 Afghans who had a “significant and/or enduring relationship with the government of Canada.” So far, solely 6,230 have arrived, and solely 10,315 functions have been authorised.

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Along with all of the others in the agency, Shajjan utilized immediately, however he’s the one one who has made it to Canada. And that was solely as a result of a Harvard classmate working for the U.S. authorities secured seats for Shajjan and his household on a flight to Qatar in September.

There, Shajjan lastly received somebody in the Canadian embassy to take his software.

All however three of the regulation agency’s members have now been in hiding since November when the Taliban took over Afghanistan’s Independent Bar Association, revoked legal professionals’ licenses, and seized the membership checklist that included private particulars of the two,500 or so members that included their dwelling addresses.

The different three are in international locations the place everlasting residency isn’t attainable, hoping to get an invite to return to Canada.

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“To this day, the Taliban have been very much going after the security forces of the former government (out of) fear of some sort of resistance coming from those people,” Shajjan mentioned in a phone interview from Toronto.

“They have not really gone after lawyers, judges, in the way that I’m afraid will happen in the future once they’re sure that they have really cemented their place in Afghanistan.”

During the primary six months for the reason that Taliban surged again to energy, the New York Times has reported that greater than 500 former Afghan authorities officers and safety power members have disappeared or been killed.

But Shajjan expects as soon as the Taliban are assured that house-to-house searches have ferreted out the resisters, they are going to start “cracking down on journalists, lawyers and people that they think are ‘thought leaders’ who can cause some sort of problems for them.”

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And he can’t perceive why Ottawa is doing so little for the Afghans whose lives at the moment are on the road for serving to Canada.

The easiest clarification is that the immigration system is in such chaos that not even politically linked, heavyweight Canadian regulation companies can break by way of the mire.

Soon after Shajjan arrived final October, he was interviewed by CBC. Serendipitously, Kristin Taylor was listening. She is the managing companion at Cassels Brock and Blackwell. She contacted Shajjan that day to supply assist.

Initially, she and others on the agency thought all that was seemingly wanted was help navigating Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada’s web site — one thing that at the same time as native-English audio system and legal professionals they realized wasn’t easy.

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Soon, it was obvious that was the least of the issues.

“We’ve spent hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours and turned our minds to try to find out where the issue is and the backlog is,” mentioned Carla Potter, the Cassels companion who now leads the agency’s countrywide advocacy effort.

They have reached no agency conclusions, nor have they’d any success shifting the legal professionals’ functions ahead. That is regardless of greater than 60 legal professionals on the agency working in groups with the authorization of Shajjan’s associates to behave on their behalf, contacting bureaucrats, politicians and anybody else.

Cassels has additionally enlisted different large and small regulation companies throughout the nation in addition to the bar associations in its advocacy. Shajjan, who has at all times been an integral half of the hassle, was employed by Cassels in April. The agency is now serving to him navigate an entire different set of hurdles — getting certified to practise regulation in Canada.

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“It’s mind blowing,” Potter mentioned in an interview. ”Every time we transfer one step ahead, it’s two steps again. When there’s a glimmer of hope, it’s clouded by one other twist or flip or different degree of paperwork.”

They usually are not even previous step one, and a significant Catch-22 lies forward.

Afghans should cross a biometric safety take a look at earlier than coming to Canada. But the take a look at isn’t accessible in Afghanistan, so that they have to depart that nation to take it. And they’ll’t take the take a look at as a result of Canada gained’t present the paperwork required to depart Afghanistan.

It’s an egregious double commonplace in gentle of Canada’s latest resolution to display Ukrainians on arrival.

It has left Shajjan incredulous.

“If you can trust me to enter into large transactions on behalf of the government of Canada, then you should also trust me when I’m coming to Canada.

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“I see Canada as my second home now, so I’m going to be as loyal and as concerned about safety and security of Canada as any other Canadian. The same is true for all my colleagues who are left behind.”

For Shajjan, the method is infuriating and disappointing.

“If there is a will, there is always a way to do it. But if there is no will, then it’s very difficult to get things done, and that’s the way it has been.”

Potter agrees. But what bothers her most is the silence.

“I can’t imagine sitting in fear with absolutely no answers. … I can’t imagine how left behind they are feeling.”

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Twitter: @bramham_daphne

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