Newmarket resident and Afghan-Canadian Robina Hafizy said she is “extremely disappointed” with the Canadian rescue efforts in Afghanistan.
With an international crisis caused by the Taliban regime taking over, Hafizy said Canada should be doing more. She is part of the Canadian Campaign for Afghan Peace, advocating for an expanded resettlement program and humanitarian aid.
Hafizy said she has extended family in the country, and many in her community have family trying to escape.
“When my people are hurting, it hurts me,” Hafizy said.
Canada ended evacuation flights this week, just before a deadly attack on the Kabul Airport Aug. 26. The country evacuated 3,700 people out of Afghanistan this month, with thousands more attempting to flee due to fear of the new regime with historic human rights abuses.
Hafizy said her own family left for Canada about 17 years ago due to the political situation there.
“If you ask any Afghan-Canadian, when you listen to their stories, it has never been their own choices. It was because the circumstances and the situation forced them to move out,” she said. “If I had 75 per cent of the freedom and political rights, and the way of life in Canada, if I had that in Afghanistan, I would go live there, but I don’t."
“They both make me,” she said of her two home countries. “They’re both part of me."
Now, Hafizy is a political activist trying to help make a difference. After spending years working in political offices and election campaigns, she was taking a break before the recent crisis. She said it spurred her to volunteer for the Canadian Campaign for Afghan Peace to pressure the Canadian government.
“Canada made promises, but it did not fulfill them. We have everyone involved in this campaign. We have families. We have friends back home,” she said. “I feel very frustrated with the way the Canadian government has responded to the situation.”
Hafizy compared the Canadian evacuation numbers and countries like the United Kingdom, which has said it has evacuated more than 13,000.
In an open letter, the campaign has called for removing barriers for Afghan resettlement, humanitarian aid, proactive diplomacy and international advocacy for women’s rights.
Hafizy said she is appreciative of Canada’s efforts so far, but they could do better. She said Afghans have been held up by bureaucratic red tape during a crisis, where getting documentation can be challenging without translation services and internet readily available.
“Every single second right now matters. There needs to be minimal paperwork required."
Canada ended its evacuations but announced $50 million Aug. 26 for the initial humanitarian response through partners like the United Nations and Red Cross.
“With Canada’s support, humanitarian partners will provide life-saving assistance, such as food, support for health care, clean water and sanitation,” the government said. “It is imperative that this support reaches the people who need it the most. We strongly urge all parties to allow rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to populations in need.”
The Canadian Campaign for Afghan Peace has reached out to political leaders, and Hafizy said she hopes to connect with local election candidates. But she said she personally feels the election hurt the government response and is making it harder for their message to reach Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Hafizy said Afghan-Canadians have built up a community in recent years to help their people, who often face barriers and have experienced trauma. She said everyone involved in the campaign is volunteering and urged everyone, including all levels of government, to support it however they can.
“Any Afghan organization here in Canada, we face a lot of challenges, because we’re learning everything from scratch,” she said. “We’re doing so much with so little. Imagine how much we can do if we do have that funding, that support, from the community, from the government. That would be really great.”
