A former Canadian military official says a group of Afghan lawyers and other personnel who helped his mission in Afghanistan were “left in the dark” and is urging Canada’s immigration department to act quickly to help them escape the Taliban.
It’s been a year since Canada began accepting fleeing Afghans through its one-year special immigration program for Afghans who have helped the Canadian government, set up weeks before Kabul fell to the Taliban in August 2021.
To date, approximately 17,170 Afghans have arrived in Canada. Last month, the Liberal government closed its immigration program to new applicants, less than halfway to its goal of bringing 40,000 Afghans to Canada.
“If [Canada] won’t act on my request, and as soon as possible I could lose my life,” said Popal, one of the Afghan military prosecutors who applied for the program and whom the CBC agreed not to identify.
Moore, center, stands surrounded by fellow soldiers in Afghanistan. Popal, whom the CBC agreed not to identify because he is currently in hiding from the Taliban, stands to Moore’s right. Popal told the CBC that he is struggling to feed his family while they are in hiding. (Submitted by Corey Moore)
“When Popal called me for help, it was very heartbreaking,” said retired Major Corey Moore, a former military legal officer with the Canadian Armed Forces who has deployed three times to Afghanistan.
Moore is helping 12 applicants and their families apply for this program and is still waiting for information from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on the fate of those 66 people. Their applications were submitted between September and December 2021.
The group includes military prosecutors, forensic scientists, security officials, video recruiters, a doctor and a journalist.
All 12 Afghans served in various capacities during Moore’s mission to help strengthen the legal branch of the Afghan National Army. He created a project to recruit Afghan law graduates by making a recruitment video that aired nationally from 2012 to 2021.
As a result, eight female military attorneys were hired as prosecutors and criminal investigators in the Army, which Moore called a “historic precedent.”
Moore worked with several Afghan prosecutors and other personnel during his last mission to strengthen the legal branch of the Afghan National Army. He is helping 12 of them and their families to hopefully escape the Taliban and immigrate to Canada. (Francis Ferland/CBC)
“During the period we were filming, it was a particularly dangerous time in Kabul when I had a target on my back,” he said.
“They’ve never left me. They’ve never cut and run … That’s why Canada can’t turn its back on them now.”
“We’re getting hopeless”
Popal, who appeared in this recruitment video, was a prosecutor in the Afghan army for 10 years.
Through a WhatsApp video chat, Popal said he and his family were in “extreme danger” because of his involvement in the recruitment drive.
Please get us out of here. – Mariam, Afghan military lawyer
“We are becoming hopeless and … just waiting for our death,” he said freely through a translator.
Popal, who broke down in tears during the call, said it had been a difficult year for his family. His children cannot go to school or appear in public, and he cannot work, so it is difficult to put food on the table. The family faces “serious threats,” he said.
“The danger we face is that we have helped Canadians.
Five of the eight female military lawyers recruited by Moore during his mission in Afghanistan. Mariam, who spoke to the CBC via video chat, is in the middle. She says her family is experiencing severe psychological stress from waiting to escape Afghanistan. (Submitted by Corey Moore)
Mariam, whose identity the CBC has also agreed to protect because she is also in hiding, is the first of eight female lawyers hired as a result of Moore’s project. (Three of the attorneys have yet to be found, Moore said.)
It prosecuted members of the Taliban accused of infiltrating the Afghan National Army. She also criminally investigated sexual assault cases involving Afghan military personnel who committed crimes against Army nurses.
“I am in danger because of this position,” she said briefly through an interpreter.
Mariam talks about the mental health impact waiting has had on her and her family.
“We all have some psychological issues, psychological issues,” she said, pleading through tears: “Justin Trudeau … please get us out of here. Please evacuate us from here… We can’t live here anymore.”
Silence from the department
Moore contacted IRCC several times this spring regarding the status of the 12 applications.
“I didn’t hear anything,” he said. “They explained that none of the 12 applicants … appeared in their system.”
After seeking clarification from other agents, Moore said one of them told him the following: “She explained that if you were suspended at the initial screening stage, you were not invited to formally [an] application … and if you don’t get an email like this, your case just goes away.”
WATCH | Moore shares how the Afghans have helped his mission:
Former Canadian military officer calls on Canada to help Afghans in hiding
Former military officer Corey Moore helped 12 Afghan military lawyers and other personnel apply for Canada’s special one-year immigration program for Afghans. That program has since been shut down, but those families still don’t have answers.
To date, none of the 12 Afghans have received an email from IRCC regarding the status of their application. The government website instructs applicants to “wait for us to contact you” after an application is submitted.
“They get nothing. They’re just left in the dark,” Moore said.
“[For Canada] to close the door on a group of people who were so closely involved in helping me succeed with my project, it’s unattainable.”
Moore sits next to Abdul Razak Khan, an Afghan translator. Khan translates a conversation with Popal and Mariam, two lawyers who are currently stuck in Afghanistan. (Francis Ferland/CBC)
By speaking publicly, Moore wants to emphasize how each candidate has played a critical role in helping him and the Canadian military.
“There’s no question that Afghanistan has become better because of their work with me,” Moore said. “And quite frankly, I think Canada is a better place with this wonderful group of people in it.”
The tight timeline is a slap in the face
Tamar Boghossian, an immigration attorney with Boghossian Morais LLP, is assisting Moore with the case. Last week she repopulated and updated all 12 apps.
Boghossian said all 12 candidates met the government’s eligibility requirements, which she called “very vague.” The government lists just two examples of who can apply — Afghan nationals who have worked at the Canadian embassy or translators — but adds that the program is “not limited to” those occupations.
The problem, Boghosyan said, is that the program has “no transparency.” The short term is also a problem, as the one-year program has already expired, she added.
“It’s a slap in the face … for those who actually helped the Canadian government,” Boghosyan said. “Why can’t we help these people in return?”
Afghan lawyers spoke to the CBC via video chat about what life is like when you’re hiding from the Taliban. (Francis Ferland/CBC)
She explained that most of the people who applied under this special program did not have proper documentation or passports and had difficulty getting them because they were absconding.
She is calling on the Trudeau government not only to extend the application deadline, but also to increase the number of people Canada will accept.
“40,000 applicants is not a lot if you know that Canada has been in Afghanistan for almost 15 years,” Boghosyan said.
The government’s decision is “shameful”, says the MP
At a press conference last month, Conservative MP and IRCC shadow minister Jasraj Singh Khalan called the Liberal government’s decision to end its year-long program “shameful.”
The Conservatives are among those calling on the government to reopen the special immigration program, and Hallan said Canada’s “moral responsibility is to help those who have served with our country.”
“The government’s decision to close [special program] it’s unconscionable,” Hallan said.
Conservative MP Jasraj Singh Hallan speaks during a press conference on July 21 on Parliament Hill. He criticized the Liberal government’s decision to end the special immigration program for Afghans. (Adrian Wilde/CP)
NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the government’s claim that other immigration routes remain open to Afghans is “deceptive.”
“It’s just denial,” she said.
The Ministry is working as quickly as possible
On behalf of IRCC, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser’s office said it could not comment on the cases of the 12 applicants for confidentiality reasons.
The ministry said it had received 15,210 applications under the special program and had so far approved about two-thirds of them.
“We are working to process requests as quickly as possible,” wrote Aidan Strickland, a spokesman for the secretary, noting that the Afghan resettlement initiative is a unique challenge.
Strickland said eligibility requirements are intended to “be as inclusive as possible” and could include cooks, drivers and other personnel who have assisted the Canadian military.
“We’ve accomplished a lot, but there’s more work to do,” she wrote.
The office has not said whether it will reopen the program.
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