OTTAWA —
The first of a number of flights carrying Afghan refugees who helped Canadian military personnel while deployed in Afghanistan has arrived in Canada.
In a statement on Wednesday evening, the federal government did not disclose how many refugees were on an evacuation flight that landed in Canada, but that more flights will be arriving in the coming days and weeks.
We committed to do right by the Afghans who supported Canadas mission in Afghanistan. With the arrival of the first resettled Afghan refugees in Canada, we are making good on that promise, a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada wrote in a news release.
The Afghans arriving in Canada helped the Canadian military during a 10-year deployment in the country during the Afghanistan war, but are now in danger due to a resurgent Taliban threat in the area.
The government has been seized with the urgency on the ground and is working as quickly as possible to resettle Afghan nationals who put themselves at great risk to support Canadas work in Afghanistan, the IRCC statement read. We have been working around the clock to identify individuals eligible to come to Canada under this special immigration program.
The Taliban claims it controls about 80 per cent of Afghanistan after the U.S. began taking troops out of the country. U.S. President Joe Biden has set a goal of having all its troops out of Afghanistan by Aug. 31. The U.S. welcomed its first planeload of refugees into their country over the weekend.
The Canadian government said that each of the refugees have met the eligibility, admissibility and security screenings required to enter Canada. They have all been tested for COVID-19 and will follow Canadas quarantine requirements.
To help the Afghans adjust to life in Canada, service provider organizations in communities across Canada are preparing to welcome them, the statement read. Settlement organizations will help them to find permanent housing, language training, a job and connections with established immigrants and Canadians and provide them with the information that they need about life in Canada.
The Canadian government has faced mounting pressure over the past days and weeks for not resettling the refugees sooner.
The government said two weeks ago that it would expedite the process of bringing the interpreters to Canada, but the process has suffered several set backs, including in deciding who is eligible for the assistance.
Last week, the federal government announced that those wishing to come to Canada only had 72 hours to do apply, which Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan later said was a mistake.
“This is a crisis, there’s people’s lives at risk and there’s no time for half-baked plans,” retired corporal Tim Laidler, now executive director of the Institute for Veterans Education and Transition at the University of British Columbia, told The Canadian Press earlier this week.
On Tuesday, a group of former Afghan interpreters held a rally in downtown Ottawa to bring attention to the urgency their family members and former colleagues are facing in Afghanistan.
With files from CTVNews.ca Producer Sarah Turnbull and The Canadian Press