On Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it would be “unlikely” for Canada to evacuate all Afghan citizens who have asked for help and are trying to flee Afghanistan amid fears of a brutal Taliban regime.
“It is going to be very, very difficult to get many people out,” he said at a campaign stop in Victoria ahead of the upcoming federal election. “We will get some, certainly, but to get many people out, as many as we want, is going to be almost impossible in the coming weeks,” he added.
Earlier this week, at another campaign stop, Trudeau announced that Canada would not recognise the Taliban as the legitimate government in Afghanistan, since it views the group as an undemocratic terrorist organisation. The Liberal Party leader also highlighted Canada’s efforts in assisting vulnerable Afghans to get out of Afghanistan and promised to resettle more than 20,000 people.
Talking about the constraints with the evacuation process in Kabul, Trudeau said it was not due to Canada’s incapacity or lack of means to airlift the Afghans, but rather the Taliban, who “continue to block access for Afghans.” He noted that Canada would face an impenetrable obstruction to help the Afghans unless the Taliban allows people to exit Kabul.
So far, Canada has managed to evacuate 800 Afghans, who have been given shelter and protection in the country.
Although Trudeau attributes the near impossibility of getting all Afghans out solely to the Taliban’s stringent curbs, people working on the ground claim that Canada’s lack of communication is a more significant obstruction. “The information that I’m hearing from other lawyers and from people who are contacting me from Afghanistan is that getting to the airport is not the issue,” says immigration lawyer Chantal Desloges, adding, “The issue is that there’s just no information out there. The system is so opaque.”
Emphasising the slow pace of Canada’s evacuation process, Desloges linked it to the ambiguity “as to who is eligible to find themselves within that 20,000 bracket or how to access this help.”
When asked about these factors highlighted by Desloges and others, Trudeau said, “I can assure you that I, and our ministers, and our government is working extremely hard to ease all the barriers, whether they be around paperwork or bureaucratic, to ensure that people are getting out of there as quickly as possible and to safety.”
Canadian PM Trudeau Declares Getting Everyone Out From Afghanistan As ‘Unlikely’
Trudeau stated that it would be ‘unlikely’ for Canada to resettle all those who have asked for help from Afghanistan.
August 20, 2021
SOURCE: TORONTO STAR