Canada 'on track' to resettle 40,000 Afghan refugees by the end of 2023, says Trudeau

According to the federal government, Canada has resettled over 30,000 Afghan refugees since the fall of Kabul in August 2021. Despite significant challenges, they are on track to resettle 40,000 Afghans by the end of 2023.

A reporter asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about expanding that target. He said the government would consider doing so after they met the 40,000 mark.

"We're continuing to work on fulfilling those numbers, and we'll look at what we can and must do in the future in other ways," Trudeau told reporters in Winnipeg. 

According to Immigration Canada, Ottawa is prioritizing the most vulnerable Afghans, "including women leaders, human rights defenders, persecuted and religious minorities, 2SLGBTQI+ individuals and journalists." 

As of March 30, 18,000 people applied for a special immigration program for those who helped Canadian diplomats and troops during the mission, including their families. Thus far, the Immigration Department has approved 11,990 applications, with 9,875 of them since arriving in Canada. 

Another program, for the extended family members of former interpreters already residing here, aims to bring 5,000 people to Canada through that stream. As of March 30, 1,285 eligible refugees have entered the country.

Additionally, some 15,875 people under government-assisted and privately sponsored refugee programs entered Canada then.

On Wednesday, Canada welcomed another 300 refugees who helped Canada's mission in Afghanistan, family members of former interpreters and privately sponsored refugees.

While Canada trucks onwards to meet its targets, Islamic countries like Turkey and Iran have deported thousands of Afghan refugees this year.

According to a statement published by the Turkish government, they have deported 3,277 Afghan refugees to Afghanistan since the beginning of the year, many of whom came to Turkey illegally. Within the past four days, nearly 1,000 Afghan refugees have been deported from the country.

"Those who earlier worked in the former government, or they are journalists or worked as civil employees, the Turkish refugees' agency is processing their cases," said Ezatullah Sadaat, head of the Afghanistan association in Turkey.

Afghanistan's Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR) said they have welcomed more than 12,500 people back in the last three weeks through the Islam Qala border, and nearly 16,000 Afghan migrants re-entered Afghanistan through the Nimroz border.

According to MoRR, most returnees went to Iran illegally without their families to seek meaningful employment but faced subsequent deportations. Some returning immigrants have said they want the Taliban government to provide job opportunities for them.

Over the past year, more than 1.86 million Afghan migrants from different countries, including Iran, have returned to Afghanistan.

"We request all countries not to relate the issues of immigrants to politics; the rights given to immigrants by Islam and the world must be respected," said Mohammad Arsala Kharoti, deputy refugees minister.

Meanwhile, some experts have said Iran cannot host Afghan migrants as Western sanctions imposed on Tehran have crippled their economy.

"There are still financial and unemployment problems in Afghanistan, and many are unemployed and cannot support their families," said immigrant affairs expert Sara Rahmani. "They are forced to leave Afghanistan and migrate to neighbouring countries." 

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