FEDERAL NDP Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Jenny Kwan on Tuesday called out the Liberal government for requiring Afghan interpreters to complete even more bureaucratic red tape before they can bring their families to safety in Canada. Only days after the interpreters held a protest and hunger strike to highlight the already frustrating and lengthy process in March, the government requested even more documentation from their family members seeking asylum.
“Afghan interpreters and their families have gone through enough,” said Kwan. “Just days after their protest, the government decided to complicate the process even more for these Afghan interpreters and their family members threatened by the Taliban. While the families flee for their lives in Afghanistan, the government is burying their loved ones with more onerous paperwork. For some, this may as well be a death sentence.”
In an email to Afghan interpreters, the government says they have 30 days to submit additional documents, or their families’ applications may be refused. The families have already submitted abundant documentation to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) when they first applied. Now, eight months later, the government is putting up more hurdles for the families. Justin Trudeau’s Liberals need to make good on their promise to bring the families of Afghan interpreters to safety in Canada, said the NDP.
“Former Afghan interpreters are part of the Canadian military family — they deserve recognition,” said Kwan. “They have already gone through layers and layers of vetting and security checks when they served with Canadian troops. The Canadian military has vouched for them with certifications. At the Special Afghanistan Committee, all the former interpreters said that they will vouch for their family members. If the government doesn’t stop with this bureaucratic red tape, more lives will be lost.”
The NDP is calling once again on the Liberals to waive the documentation requirements, issue single travel journey documents to the family members to reach a third country and, from there, organize evacuation flights to reunite them with their loved ones in Canada. The NDP is also calling on the government to waive the refugee determination requirements and allow Afghans to apply for the special immigration measures from within Afghanistan.
