Canadian government announced plans Friday to relocate Afghans who assisted Canada’s military and its embassy and could face danger because of their work, amid US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Canadian government in a statement said that the situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating rapidly and many have become Taliban targets due to their work.
Those eligible for being granted refuge include interpreters who worked with the Canadian Armed Forces, cooks, drivers, cleaners, construction workers, security guards and locally engaged staff employed at the Embassy of Canada to Afghanistan, and their family members.
Criteria to be referred for resettlement are based on applicants’ significant or enduring relationship with the Government of Canada.
“Lives hang in the balance here,” Canadian Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino told reporters, “which is why we are taking timely and decisive action. Canada will do right by those who did right by us.”
Mendicino said the government appreciates “that there is a need to act quickly and decisively, but that we must also do so safely given the very dynamic and rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.”
