Her parents and siblings are at risk from the Taliban, she says. But to Canada, they're not family members

Sonita Mominzada, a refugee from Afghanistan, has six sisters — all young women desperate to get back to their university studies.

She has to pause when she talks about them. She takes deep breaths and turns off her camera on Zoom. "I'm sorry," she says, when she returns, wiping away tears. 

Mominzada, 28, and her husband Hashmatullah arrived in Canada from Afghanistan amid the Taliban takeover in late August 2021. They came through a special resettlement program for those who assisted the Canadian government. Hashmatullah did translation work for the Canadian and U.S. armies. 

But while they escaped, the lives of her sisters and other family members still in the country were put on pause. Women were barred from universities and prevented from leaving their homes without a male escort. 

Two of her sisters are studying law. But the possibility that they might not achieve their career dreams are the least of Mominzada's fears right now. Instead, it's their safety that keeps her up at night. 

Though her family members fled Afghanistan for Pakistan in March 2022, Mominzada lives in constant fear that they will be sent back to their home country and targeted because of their connection to her husband.

Siblings, parents didn't meet criteria: IRCC decision 

But in February, the family's application to join Mominzada in Canada was rejected. In its decision, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship said her sisters, two brothers and parents did not meet the definition of "family member."

The IRCC defines a family member under the federal Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The definition includes a spouse, common-law partner, or dependant children or grandchildren. 

Relatives can also qualify as a "de facto" family member if they have a dependency on the relative in Canada and have "documentary evidence" to show it, according to the policy.  

In the decision, an IRCC migration officer argued Mominzada's family does not meet the "definition of a family member" under the Protection Regulations.

"You are not financially and emotionally dependent on Mominzada Hashmatullah," says the decision, shared with CBC News. It does not elaborate further.

Challenges proving financial, emotional dependency 

Mominzada says she can't understand why the application was declined. 

"We explained that it's not a good reason that they rejected the application. We explained everything to them," she said.

In Afghanistan, residents do not rely on banks the same way people do in the West, said Mominzada. Exchanging cash is more common than using a bank, meaning electronic records are harder to produce, she explained. 

And it's even more difficult to prove emotional dependency, she said.

Since August 2021, Canada has resettled 30,680 refugees from Afghanistan under various programs, according to the IRCC. The federal government has set a goal for 40,000 refugees to be welcomed from the region by the end of the year.

Under the special measures immigration program for Afghans who assisted the government of Canada, the program Mominzada and her husband arrived under, the IRCC has received 18,420 applications and approved 12,200, it says.

System 'shrouded in mystery': professor

Mustafa Aryan, project manager of the Tea Circle Forum, an initiative examining perspectives on Myanmar at the University of Toronto, also arrived as a refugee from Afghanistan in November 2021.

Aryan said he's been unable to get his own parents to be approved to come to Canada. Other family members of his decided to apply under a private sponsorship program and are still waiting on the status of their application close to two years after submitting, he said. 

"It's a frustrating process.... It's a challenge for many Afghans," he said.

And Pakistan is no safe haven for those families, as the country is in the midst of an economic crisis and is on the precipice of further instability, said Aryan.

Jay Ramasubramanyam, an assistant professor specializing in migration at York University, said the IRCC's requirements are "extremely problematic." He said European refugees like Ukrainians, have been treated differently. Canada has allowed over 200,000 Ukrainian refugees into Canada and has approved close to 700,000 temporary residency applications.

"We saw how swift the response was when it came to Ukrainian refugees ... but when it comes to refugees from Afghanistan or anywhere else in the Global South, there's always this hesitance that they may not 'fit in,'" he said. 

"The system is shrouded in mystery, we don't know what goes on behind closed doors," he said. 

IRCC says it's processing applications at 'record rate'

In a statement to CBC News, the IRCC said it could not comment on specific cases due to privacy concerns, but said the government has been flexible. 

"We have been processing applications at a record rate," it said. "A crisis of this magnitude means that there will always be more demand for resettlement to Canada than we are able to provide."

For now, Mominzada says she hopes Canada reconsiders.

"That was everything that we thought about for our family, to be here in Canada, to have a peaceful life here," she said.