Global Courant 2023-05-23 13:00:00
In 2021, Parwin Hamkar and her family fled Afghanistan to Greece in what was meant to be a temporary stopover until they could start a new life in Canada.
Nearly two years later, what should have been a simple step has turned into an endless wait.
“Even if we still have hope, we can’t go on like this. Every day it gets harder. Psychologically I’m not doing well, but we have no other options,” Hamkar said with tears in his eyes.
She was a former prosecutor in Kabul and was evacuated to Greece with her hundreds of Afghan women in positions of authority and their families shortly after the Taliban came to power in August 2021.
Greece had given them temporary shelter until they could find shelter in another country. But she, her husband and two minor children are still awaiting a final decision from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
“We don’t know if we leave or not. Every time we try to contact the IRCC it’s difficult, they don’t respond easily. When they respond they say you are busy so you have to wait But for how long ?” Hamkar said.
Ottawa has pledged to welcome at least 40,000 Afghans into the country after the Taliban came to power. But almost two years later 31,000 have reached Canada. Ottawa has been criticized for months for the slowness of the process.
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Hamkar said she can no longer bear the situation. Most of all, she finds it hard to understand why other Afghans who were evacuated at the same time as her family, or even an older daughter who applied separately, have already been able to move to Canada.
“It’s unacceptable because we came on the same flight, the same group from the same country. How is that possible? … It’s unfair. It’s a kind of torture for us.”
The past 21 months in Greece have not been easy, she said, between the trauma of her hasty departure and now the wait.
“Every morning when my son wakes up, he asks me if I can check my email, he says maybe we will have some good news today. When I say no, there is nothing, he cries. We are frustrated, we want to give up, we don’t know what to do we beg Canada to please do something.
Hundreds of Afghan women who were politicians, activists, judges or other positions of power fled Afghanistan for Greece when the Taliban seized control of the country on August 15, 2021. (Loulou D’Aki/Getty Images)
A long trip
Homa Ahmadi has a similar story.
As a member of the Afghan parliament, she says she realized her life was in danger when the Taliban took over in 2021.
“When I heard they were coming to the parliament, I immediately left and tried to return to my house. But it was too late, the Taliban had already attacked my house. So I had no choice but to hide at the a friend’s house,’ said Ahmadi.
While trying to escape at Kabul airport on August 26, 2021, a suicide bomber killed nearly 200 people. She vividly remembers the carnage around her.
“It was horrible.”
Afghans gather along the road at the military part of Kabul airport on August 20, 2021, hoping to flee the country after the Taliban take power. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images)
After a month in hiding, she was finally able to reach Greece with her family, after a long journey through Iran, Iraq and Georgia. Like others, they thought it would be just a short stop to Canada.
But after 20 months in Greece, she says she feels let down by Canada. The family sent their application to IRCC in November 2021 and they are still awaiting the final decision.
“Why are they keeping us here without any reason or explanation? My husband and I feel sick and one of my daughters is very anxious. She has lost more than 10 kilos,” Ahmadi explained, grabbing her cellphone. regularly checks the status of their application online.
Ahmadi said she is particularly concerned for her 14-year-old daughter, who had been out of school in Afghanistan for two years due to COVID restrictions and has still not been to school since they moved.
“It’s depressing. As a mother, it’s hard to look at her and see her suffer.”
Homa Ahmadi, a former Afghanistan MP, checks her phone to see if there are any updates on her application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, in Athens on Wednesday. (Romain Chauvet/CBC)
Several family members, including one of her sons, have already been adopted and moved to Canada.
In addition to waiting, she says she still feels hunted by the Taliban. One of the leaders recently posted on social media a list of women to be executed, she said. She is one of them.
“They say that even if these women are abroad, they must be destroyed, removed from the world wherever they are. Every day I see myself in danger,” said Ahmadi, trembling.
Not an isolated case
Ahmadi and Hamkar are not isolated cases, according to Nadina Christopoulou, co-founder of Melissa Network, a Greek NGO involved in efforts to evacuate Afghans to Greece.
Christopoulou said about a dozen families are still waiting to hear if their applications will be approved at IRCC, almost two years after arriving in Greece.
“When they signed up for the Canadian program, they entered a symbolic space of promises. It’s very difficult for them to understand why time passes and they can’t move forward with their children. It’s like pain,” said Christopoulou .
The organization, which provides support and activities, is also asking Ottawa to speed up the resettlement process.
“The sooner they get there, the sooner they’ll be active again, regain their confidence and start a new life. I really hope it goes faster because I don’t want them stuck next school year.” added Christopoulou.
In an email statement, IRCC said they are processing applications as quickly as possible, adding that “IRCC has mobilized existing staff and hired additional resources to support Canada’s special immigration programs.”
IRCC also explained that every application is different and some may take longer to complete than others, but they are still confident that they will “reset at least 40,000 vulnerable Afghans by the end of 2023”.
Shagufa Noorzai, a Member of Parliament from Helmand, Afghanistan, speaks at a rally at Melissa Network on February 24, 2022 in Athens. (Loulou D’Aki/Getty Images)
For security reasons, Canadian authorities said they could not reveal how many cases of Afghans in Greece are still pending.
But while they wait, Hamkar takes classes to improve her English and dreams of the snowy landscapes of Canada.
Ahmadi dreams of seeing her daughter’s dream come true.
“She wants to go to space, she wants to be an astronaut. I hope she can do it one day and be the first to hang the Afghan flag there.”
