America’s painful and tragic exit Afghanistan It finally ended on Monday, allowing Canadian veterans and refugee advocates to weigh several bad options as they seek to protect hundreds of stranded Afghans who are still waiting to hear good news about their application to travel to Canada.
The last U.S. C-17 transport plane took off from Hamid Karzai International Airport at 3:29 p.m. Eastern Time-one minute before midnight in Kabul, the Taliban vowed to let President Joe Biden’s government be at the end of Tuesday. Leave before the deadline.
General Kenneth MacKenzie, commander of the US Central Command, said: “I hereby announce that we have completed the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and the end of the military mission to evacuate American citizens, third-country nationals and vulnerable Afghans.”
“Tonight, the evacuation means the end of the military component of the evacuation, but also the end of the nearly 20-year mission that began in Afghanistan shortly after September 11, 2001.”
Therefore, those Canadians trying to rescue their trapped allies must now decide whether to let the former Afghan interpreters and their families try the extremely dangerous trek to Pakistan, or follow the Canadian government’s advice and wait.
“I don’t know,” said Stephen Watt, the co-founder of the Canadian Northern Lights Refugee Organization, which has been working with former translators and support staff. “I mean:’Try to live. If you can, try to get out. But I don’t think any of us have any specific answers to them.”
With the end of the U.S. troop withdrawal, attention turned to the land border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. A deadly suicide bomb attack occurred at the airport last week, killing 13 U.S. soldiers and nearly 200 local Afghans clamoring to take off. Killed.
The end of US military flights almost closed the last remaining escape route for thousands of Afghans who have supported Canada and its allies since the beginning of the 2001 war.
In order to keep the door open, it is expected that France and the United Kingdom will propose an emergency resolution in the UN Security Council on Monday, proposing the establishment of a “safe zone” at Kabul Airport to continue to promote safe takeoffs. Afghan.
Canada supports this proposal. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in his campaign as the leader of the Liberal Party that Afghanistan will continue to need a civilian airport after the withdrawal of US troops.
According to reports, the Taliban have been driving Afghans with travel documents from the airport. In response, some countries sent troops to escort foreign citizens outside the airport and approved Afghans to pass through Taliban checkpoints.
As the Afghan withdrawal approaches, the rockets are aimed at American soldiers at Kabul Airport
“As a global community, we will continue to pressure the Taliban, including at the United Nations, to ensure that those with travel documents can do? Canada can leave Afghanistan and start their lives elsewhere,” Trudeau said.
The Liberal government has been criticized repeatedly for failing to act quickly enough to rescue Afghans who helped Canada during military missions in Canada. The special immigration plan announced last month was plagued by bureaucratic and technical problems.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki continued to insist on Monday that even after the military portion of the mission is over, US efforts to help people leave the country will continue.
A few hours before MacKenzie announced the end of the evacuation, Psaki said: “Even if we bring men and women home from the military, our commitment will not be shaken.” He pointed out that “ongoing, immediate, and urgent” “High-level” discussions among alliance partners.
“We are still committed,” she added. “That’s why we are so focused on ensuring that we have a means and mechanism to allow diplomats stationed there to continue processing applicants and provide convenience for others who want to leave Afghanistan.”
Psaki mentioned the virtual meeting of Secretary of State Anthony Brinken with foreign officials including Canadian Foreign Minister Mark Gano on Monday, and the coalition’s request that the Taliban continue to let Americans and Afghans leave the country after Tuesday.
Although the Taliban leaders have made this promise, “This does not mean that we believe what they say,” Psaki added. “But we will continue to cooperate with partners all over the world in a coordinated manner and exert tremendous international influence.”
Brinken himself was originally scheduled to publicly acknowledge the end of the mission on Monday and provide details of the next diplomatic phase of the evacuation work.
Due to the uncertainty of whether Afghans can still escape by air, Canadian volunteer organizations are increasingly considering whether to encourage former translators and their families to risk fleeing to Pakistan for asylum.
The Canadian Department of Global Affairs warned Afghans who applied under the special plan not to go to the border with Pakistan. A copy of the news obtained by the Canadian Press stated that they should “take refuge in place in consideration of the volatility of the situation”.
However, the news also said, “If individuals decide to take the risk of travel, the Pakistani government has stated that they will, at the request of the Islamabad Canadian High Commission, work hard to facilitate the entry of Canadian-sponsored individuals into Pakistan.”
EU vows to prevent “uncontrolled” and “illegal” immigration from Afghanistan: draft statement
Watt accused the government of sending “contradictory messages” to desperate Afghans, warning them not to go to Pakistan, and at the same time opening the door to possible salvation if the former translator and his family can get there.
“This mixed information may kill these people,” he said.
Compounding the problem is that the status of hundreds of applications submitted by former translators, local staff and family members to the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of Canada continues to be uncertain and frustrating, and these applications have not been available to most people. Any updates.
“We still have about 900 people in the safe house waiting for IRCC to approve their application and decide what to do next,” said retired corporal Tim Lederer, a retired fellow who worked to save Afghanistan from the Taliban. One of the soldiers.
Lederer added that without approval, it would be difficult to know what to do next.
“We have very good connections at the Canadian Embassy in Pakistan. We can establish routes. We can do it,” he said. “We just don’t want to build it, and then trap 1,000 people in Pakistan for two years and have to hire immigration lawyers. Therefore, we need to understand the situation decisively and quickly.”
© 2021 Canadian Press
