Canada urged to bring in more Afghans facing risk of death from Taliban

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada (AA) - Canada came under criticism Monday for the slow pace in bringing Afghan refugees into the country as the Taliban marks one year since taking back control in the beleaguered nation.

The government has brought in 17,300 Afghans who helped the Canadian military in its battle against the authoritarian Taliban, but that is a far cry from the 40,000 promised, says the head of Aman Lara, a non-profit group of Canadian veterans and former interpreters working to bring Afghans to safety in Canada.

"When we were unable to get them out a year ago, it was devastating," said Brian Macdonald.

"These people that have helped Canada now have to stand up and go to an office that's controlled by the Taliban and give their name and address and the dates of birth of their children," he said. "It's a very dangerous thing to do."

But the Canadian government said it has added more staff to process applications and the country has one of the largest Afghan refugees programs in the world.

"We can hold our heads up high when we think about our response compared to that of our allies," Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Thursday, but she conceded "there is a lot more work to do" and that they "need to keep on working to bring more people from Afghanistan to Canada," saying: "That's exactly what we're doing."

Macdonald also noted that with lives in danger, Canada needs to pick up the pace and get those Afghans away from the Taliban's grasp and the risk of death.

"A year ago, we were panicking to get as many people out as possible," he said. "We all thought — as veterans and other interpreters — that that window had closed, that the people we didn't get out were stuck in Afghanistan.

"But what we've learned over the last year is we can still move them out. And we're just going to keep doing that until we get as many people out as we possibly can."