Inside the secret mission to bring Afghanistan's last female politicians to Canada
6 Canadian MPs, from 5 parties, are working to speed up immigration file
They left their country for the last time in the dark of the early morning. Women and children crammed into a van. Heads covered, their faces masked so they didn't attract attention at Taliban checkpoints.
Former female politicians in Afghanistan, the women in the vehicle face an extraordinary threat from within their own country. Now that it's again under Taliban control, women's rights are dwindling; as recently as August, the regime introduced new rules banning women from showing their bare faces and speaking in public.
"The day which we were waiting for the last one-and-a-half years, today it's happened," said Nilofer as she and her colleagues prepare to finally leave the country where they are now a target of the regime.
"Unfortunately, no one is safe here."
Nilofer and Hasna, pseudonyms CBC is using to protect family members left in Afghanistan, are huddled in the van. They drive through the mountainous region that separates their home from Pakistan, silent as they pass through checkpoint after checkpoint, hours stretching into one long day.
'Why is it taking so long?'
When they reach the border, it's getting dark again. But Nilofer said there was hope after clearing the first hurdle.
On that day, they were en route to Islamabad and hoping it would be a short stay — just until their security clearance went through and they were allowed to come to Canada. They weren't going alone. Both had family members with them and were ready to start a new life.
But nearly a year later, some of the women in that car are still refugees in Pakistan and could be deported due to expired visas. This, despite a coalition of six Canadian members of parliament — from all five parties — who have been working together since fall 2022 to expedite the immigration process for Nilofer and 10 other women who were the last female MPs left in Afghanistan.
"Our collective frustration is immense," said Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, who is working with Liberal MP Marcus Powlowski, Bloc Québécois Citizenship and Immigration critic Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Conservative MP Alex Ruff, Liberal MP Leah Taylor Roy and NDP Foreign Affairs critic Heather McPherson on the file.
"We cannot answer the question: Why is it taking so long?"
Corey Levine is also awaiting that answer.
The orchestrator of the escape to Pakistan and the one to bring the Canadian politicians together, Levine met many female MPs during the dozens of trips she's taken to Afghanistan for human rights research.
She hasn't seen Hasna since they were all together in that van to Pakistan; Levine had to leave the women at the border on Nov. 24, 2023, because her visa restrictions wouldn't let her follow.
"It was an incredibly moving and heart-wrenching experience watching them walk across that border and then disappear, and you don't know what happened to them," she said. "You're just waiting and waiting to get news."
The women still exchange updates in a group chat and Zoom calls. And though Nilofer, Hasna and their families made it across the border safely, the latter is fearful she may be deported before she is allowed to come to Canada.
Life in Pakistan is safer but not safe
By the time the women arrived in Pakistan, the government there was already cracking down on refugees from Afghanistan whose visas had run out while they were waiting to be accepted to a third country.
Nilofer, Hasna and their families had visas that were valid until the end of February 2024.
A week before Hasna's visa ran out, she told CBC through a translator that she had heard of many people who had been sent back to Afghanistan.
She worries her work as a female politician would make her a target of the Taliban's fundamentalist regime if she were deported. In the six months after the Taliban took back control of Afghanistan, Hasna said she had felt like a prisoner in her home in Kabul. She was so fearful she moved to a province far away — and continued moving from house to house until she fled to Pakistan.
Her fear was not unwarranted. While Hasna was still living in Afghanistan, she and the other politicians learned one of their colleagues had been killed.
Mursal Nabizada, one of the Afghans the Canadian politicians had promised to help, was murdered on Jan. 15, 2023.
Levine learned of Nabizada's death in a group chat with the female politicians.
"I still get emotional thinking about it," said Levine of Nabizada, a politician who had also run an NGO focused on alleviating poverty. "She was such an incredible woman.
"It was obviously devastating for the women MPs who were still trapped in Afghanistan and worried — are they going to be next?"
Pushing to get them out
Nabizada's death prompted Ruff and his colleagues to speak out about speeding up the immigration process for the women, noting that western countries — including Canada — funded programs geared toward getting Afghan women into politics after the initial fall of the Taliban.
"It was because of us. We encouraged them," said Brunelle-Duceppe of the women entering politics, saying there's now a responsibility to help.
The Canadian MPs say they have repeatedly spoken with the two immigration ministers who would have been in charge of the department in the last two years, first Sean Fraser and then Marc Miller.
Miller took over in July 2023, about six months into the work Levine and the coalition had been doing to secure passage to Canada for the Afghan MPs. When asked by CBC about the delays on this file, Miller did not answer directly.
Instead, the minister said the department strives for excellence but admits there can be delays.
"Sometimes things do take too long, but again in all this there's a number of complicating factors including our ability to act in a rapid way in a region that is relatively unstable," he said, adding the safety of Canadians and the families hoping to come to Canada are important.
When Levine first approached the Canadian politicians nearly two years ago — before planning the escape — she had identified nine women to bring to Canada with their families, and three more were soon added.
Six of those women have arrived, as has Nabizada's family.
'So happy to be here'
Late one night in April, Nilofer and her family landed at Pearson airport, staying in Toronto for a night before eventually settling in British Columbia.
On the day she arrived, her thoughts were of gratitude to Levine and the politicians.
"I am so happy to be here, because at least I can study and at least I can [get a] job" Nilofer said. "I thank the government of Canada and especially from MPs of Canada, for the parliamentary members and for Miss Corey — she did too much for us. And we will never forget her help."
Nilofer is already working and is studying English; she said she hopes to pursue a master degree in international relations.
In the meantime, she is also connecting with other newcomers to Canada.
But there is still an ache in her chest, she said, for family and friends left behind. And for the women and girls who will live without basic opportunities.
"They cannot get an education, they are not allowed to work. So still my heart is with them."
Hasna is unsure of the status of her file at the moment. She has lived in a safehouse in Islamabad since December.
When CBC spoke to Hasna in April, she was trying to be optimistic her file will soon be approved. Through the translator, she said she hears Canadians are very accepting of newcomers, and, though she said it won't be easy, she is hopeful she can start a new life here.
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