Associated Press

The pledge, made by Ottawa in August 2021 when the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, was driven by concerns for the safety of Afghans who had collaborated with Canadian programs and the former Afghan government.

In the past two years, Canada has successfully assisted the resettlement of at least 39,730 Afghans, as reported by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

More than half of these refugees have been admitted under a humanitarian program specifically tailored for human rights activists, journalists, religious and ethnic minority groups, and LGBTI individuals.

An additional 12,000 Afghans, who had worked for the Canadian government in Afghanistan before 2021, found safety in Canada through a special immigration visa program.

“Canada’s Afghan resettlement commitment is one of the largest on a per capita basis in the world and is second only to that of the United States in overall numbers,” Mary Rose Sabater, IRCC’s communication adviser, told VOA.

Among those resettled across Canada, at least 17,000 are women, many of whom are former government employees, lawmakers and civil society activists.

Afghan women have been disproportionately affected by the Taliban’s rule, which is often referred to as the world’s only gender-apartheid system, denying them fundamental rights such as education and employment.

Even after reaching the commitment of 40,000 Afghan refugees this year, Canada intends to maintain its flexibility in providing shelter to at-risk Afghans in the future.

“Afghans may also be eligible for regular immigration programs, including economic, family reunification and refugee resettlement programs … they may be referred for resettlement by the United Nations Refugee Agency and other organizations. Canadians can also continue to privately sponsor Afghan refugees,” Sabater said.

Canada’s government has earmarked approximately $615 million ($844.3 million Canadian) in resettlement services for the Afghan refugees including a 12-month income support program that pays for accommodation, food and health care.

Permanent residents

One distinctive aspect of Canada’s approach is the ease with which Afghans become permanent legal residents upon their arrival.

“Canada processes refugees overseas before admitting them to Canada,” said Sabater.

After residing in Canada for five years, of which three must be spent within the country, these permanent residents will be eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship.

In contrast, the United States is currently navigating legislative hurdles to approve the Afghan Adjustment Act, which is expected to establish legal pathways for long-term residence and naturalization of tens of thousands of Afghans who entered the U.S. under humanitarian parole in 2021.

While the act is mired in Congressional debates, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently extended the parole deadline until May 2025.

The U.S. military airlifted 124,000 individuals out of Kabul in August 2021 of which at least 77,000 were offered a temporary humanitarian parole in the United States.

“After reviewing the country conditions in Afghanistan and consulting with interagency partners, Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas determined that an 18-month TPS [temporary parole status] extension and redesignation is warranted because conditions, including armed conflict, that support Afghanistan’s TPS designation are ongoing,” the DHS said in a statement.

ISLAMABAD — The Pakistani government approved the creation of several deportation centers for hundreds of thousands of illegally residing Afghan nationals they plan to arrest and repatriate to Afghanistan starting next month, VOA learned Tuesday.

Approval of the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan comes ahead of the November 1 deadline the government set for all “illegal/unregistered foreigners” and those “overstaying their visa validity periods” to return to their countries of origin or face deportation for breaching Pakistan’s immigration laws.

Pakistani Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti, when announcing the deadline in early October, said an estimated 1.7 million Afghans are among those facing forcible eviction.

Official sources told VOA that special deportation centers would be established in the country’s four provinces: Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Afghans detained in Punjab and Sindh will be transferred to centers in Rawalpindi and Karachi districts, respectively.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will have two deportation centers — in Nowshehra and Chamkani — while Baluchistan will house three facilities in the provincial capital of Quetta, and in Pishin and Qilla Abdullah districts. These two provinces line Pakistan’s nearly 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) border with Afghanistan and collectively host most refugee families.

The new plan empowers district administrations, police, prosecution and prison authorities to detain and deport illegally residing Afghan nationals. It specifies that individuals convicted of or currently on trial for minor offenses will be expelled, whereas those convicted of or facing trial for “serious crimes” will not be sent back to Afghanistan.

Islamabad has pledged to carry out the deportations in “a phased and orderly manner.” It has also clarified that the crackdown would not target 1.4 million Afghan refugees living legally in the country and around 900,000 others holding valid Afghan citizenship cards and formally registered in Pakistan as economic migrants.

The government has formally directed law enforcement agencies not to harass refugees there legally and those carrying Afghan nationality cards, although Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and refugee families have alleged that some were subjected to police abuses, mistreatment and extortion.

The Taliban have called on Pakistan to review the deportation plan, decrying it as “inhumane” and “unacceptable.” However, they have lately set up special camps on the Afghan side of the border to provide immediate shelter, health, food and financial aid to families returning from the neighboring country.

Officials in both countries have confirmed that tens of thousands of Afghans have voluntarily returned to their home country since Islamabad announced the deadline nearly a month ago.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, while speaking to an Afghan television channel Tuesday, urged Pakistan to treat Afghan refugees “humanely” and extend the period of deportation. He asked all the refugees to return to their country, claiming they have turned war-torn Afghanistan into a “safer and better” place.

The Taliban seized power from a U.S.-backed government in August 2021 when the United States and NATO troops withdrew from the country after nearly two decades of involvement in the Afghan war.

The Taliban takeover prompted hundreds of thousands of people to flee to Pakistan, fearing retribution for their association with Western forces. They included human rights defenders, former government officials, professionals, female activists and journalists. Many have since been relocated to the U.S. and other Western countries, while thousands are awaiting the processing of their applications for resettlement in the United States and Europe.

The Taliban imposed their strict interpretation of Islamic law, barring teenage girls from receiving an education and many women from work. The restrictions have discouraged many Afghan refugee families from returning to Afghanistan, saying their daughters cannot seek education or work there.

The United Nations also has urged Islamabad to suspend its plan to force out Afghans seeking refuge, warning it could expose them to persecution and other abuse by the country’s de facto Taliban authorities.