Afghan interpreters and Canadian veterans say the Immigration Department is failing Afghans who worked with Canada in the war-torn country, despite an announcement last week to fast-track their resettlement.
Rahim, who worked as an interpreter with Canadian soldiers via NATO in 2016-17 and whose full name is not being disclosed for safety reasons, says Taliban fighters burned his father'shome to the ground on Monday in punishment for his service to coalition forces.
On Wednesday the Immigration Department released an application form to be filled out within 72 hours, but veterans groups say it is not clear whether applicants' siblings, parents and extended family members under threat from the Taliban will be eligible for resettlement. "That's just not how the Taliban is drawing lines on who's included versus who's not," said Andrew Rusk, co-founder of advocacy group Not Left Behind.
"But I can highlight at the same time that we are continuing to expand the family reunification programs available to all immigrants and permanent residents to Canada, and this is something that we will continue to look at," he told reporters in St. John's, N.L.
"Had they contacted any of the individuals who were involved with this before they launched this, we could have guided them on how to structure an orderly process that wouldn't have created chaos on the ground."
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