An Afghan Canadian man is asking the Federal Government to accelerate the process of sponsorship sponsorship for his mother, who fled from Afghanistan after the Taliban defeated her and now hides in Tayikistan to avoid deportation back to Kabul.
Noorullah Hakemi, who lives in Ottawa and arrived in Canada in 2019, said his mother, Bibi Khatoon Yaqoubi, 57, is still in danger because the authoritarian government in Tayikistan ordered the deportation of Afghan refugees.
“She lives in good condition for now from the perspective of health, but it is not a good condition from the security perspective,” Hakemi told CBC News.
He served as an advisor in the Afghan government before the Taliban took power.
“There is a great violation of human rights [in Tajikistan]. They are arresting people, they are hitting people, they are torturing people, “said Hakemi.
The reports of the media in English in the region in June said that the authorities in Tayikistan had launched outstanding immigration raids aimed at Afghan refugees.
Rafi Ferdous, founding member of the Council of Afghanistan of Canada, said that approximately 3,000 Afghan refugees in Tayikistan expected the processing of their cases of sponsored refugees to arrive in Canada. He said Ottawa needs to prioritize these cases.
“We want the government [of Canada] To process the cases waiting in Tayikistan, “Ferdous said.
Ottawa trying to “protect” refugees for Canada
Canada allows community groups, organizations, corporations and groups of citizens to bring refugees through a sponsorship program. According to the program, sponsors are responsible for providing refugees with financial support and support, and helping them find work and organizing education.
At the end of the 1990s and until the early 2000s, Tayikistan was one of the main runners that Afghan refugees used to travel to Canada. The country has traditionally been hostile towards the Taliban, Ferdous said.
“They [the Tajikistan government] He changed his behavior … And this is new and this is a bit strange, “he said.
Immigration, refugees and citizenship of Canada said in a statement sent by email to CBC News that was “deeply concerned about the reports” of the deportations of Afghan refugees by the authorities of Tayikistan.
The statement said the Government was working with the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to settle with the authorities in Tayikistan to “protect and support Afghans for resettlement in Canada.”
The Mohammad Younesi family received asylum in Canada after fleeing from Afghanistan, but Younesi ended up in the custody of the immigration and customs application of the United States after being separated from his family. Now, after a temporary resident permit to enter Canada, Younesi could be sent back to Afghanistan, where his family cares about being killed. [Correction: A previous version of this video description said that the family was smuggled out of Afghanistan. In fact, they fled the country after securing humanitarian visas from Brazil.]
Global Affairs Canada said in a statement sent by email that Canada does not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan and that the group remains listed as a terrorist entity.
The statement said that Canada was monitoring the treatment of Afghan refugees in Tayikistan, as well as in Pakistan and Iran.
Helen Thibault, associate professor of Political Science at the University of Nazarbayev in Astana, Kazakhstan, said there may be several factors behind the decision of the Tayikistan government to send Afghan refugees to the arms of a Taliban government to which they have historically opposed.
Thibault said that Tayikistan can be following Russia’s leadership, which has recognized Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.
“Every time Russia does something, Tayikistan is one of the first countries of Central Asia to continue,” he said.
‘Imitator’ effect ‘
The Tayikistan government can also be feeling a tension in resources by organizing about 10,000 Afghan refugees in a small country, he said. Most refugees are in the poorest and rural southern region that limits Afghanistan, Tibeault said.
“It could be that Tayikistan is seeing what is happening in the United States and says: ‘Oh, well, you know, this is an acceptable practice now. We can deport anyone who supposedly violates our immigration laws.’ It’s like an imitating effect,” he said.
For Hakemi, the reasons do not change the fear he faces every day knowing that his mother could be caught and deported back to a country under a regime that almost took his life.
“Of course I fear, she is not where she is supposed to be,” he said. ‘Where she lives is not stable. If she returns to Afghanistan, I don’t know what will happen to the Taliban there. “
Hakemi said that his mother’s sponsorship was organized through a group of immigration of Afghan women in Toronto.
He said his mother fled to Tayikistan in December 2024 after recovering from a beating at the hands of Taliban officials who left her with two fractured legs and a fractured left hand, along with other injuries, according to a report presented to Canadian immigration officials that included medical records and photographs.
She was dragged to the street, whipped and beaten in front of a crowd during August 15, 2024, celebrations that mark the return of the Taliban to power, according to the report.
“There were two other women. I told them that the Taliban are murderers and all that,” Yaquobi said in an audio statement that he recorded for CBC News that described his terrible experience.
“Those women told Taliban what I said. The Taliban took me out of the car and won me. I was unconscious and ended in the hospital … When I regained consciousness, I realized that my arms and legs were broken.”
Yaquobi’s case has appeared before the Richard Bennett office, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights situation in Afghanistan.
Bennett’s office did not respond to a request for CBC comments.
