An Afghan journalist passed up asylum in 2 countries to come to Canada. Now he's stranded
Samandar Khan says the Canadian government vowed to rescue his family, but they never showed up
Afghan journalist Samandar Khan says he had two opportunities to escape with his family to European countries, but he turned them down because he'd already secured Canadian visas.
But when he and his son went to meet Canadian officials at a rendezvous point outside the Kabul International Airport this week, nobody showed up to help them.
Now Canada has halted its rescue operations in the Taliban-ruled country, and Khan and his son are stranded. His wife and some other family members have escaped to Qatar, and are still hoping to claim asylum in a third country.
"We lost that chance to go to other countries, and then we lost this chance to go to Canada as well," Khan, president of the Afghan Independent Journalists Association, told As It Happens guest host Peter Armstrong.
"If I remain in Afghanistan, I think I'll lose my life. I will be killed or I will be disappeared."
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said it cannot comment on individual asylum cases, citing privacy concerns.
Canada halts evacuations
Khan and his 19-year-old son are among the thousands of Afghans who applied to come to Canada but are now stranded in Afghanistan. In a memo obtained by CBC News, Canada's acting chief of the defence staff said Thursday that Canada is halting its evacuation efforts at the Kabul airport.
"The government of Canada recognizes that there are a number of people in Afghanistan, including Canadian citizens, permanent residents, their families, and applicants under programs for Afghans," the notice read.
"Until such a time that the security situation stabilizes, be mindful of the security environment and where possible, take the necessary steps to ensure your security and that of your family."
But Khan thought that by obtaining visas to Canada, he had already taken the necessary steps to secure his family's safety.
He has been working as a journalist in Afghanistan for 20 years. His son, Ahmad Naween, followed in his footsteps and works as a photojournalist. When the Taliban seized control of the country last month, they knew they were no longer safe. The militant group is known for its brutal crackdowns on activists, journalists and dissenters.
"I was preparing tough statements against the Taliban, against the terrorist groups. I was reading tough statements all the time in press conferences. I was doing a tough job defending journalists' freedom, freedom of expression, rights. My whole family was doing this," Khan said.
"And now, after 20 years, we see the situation is very different. Now it is impossible to live here."
Through the Committee To Protect Journalists (CPJ), Khan says he was offered chances to flee to Ireland or Germany and claim asylum.
But he eschewed those offers for Canada. He received visas from the Canadian government on Monday through a special immigration program for vulnerable groups in Afghanistan. All his paperwork was in order, and he was given assurances he and his family would be given safe passage to Canada, he said.
The CPJ said it cannot confirm details about the people it is helping to escape the country because of "how fluid the situation is and the continued challenges for journalists still in Afghanistan and those in exile."
Khan says the Canadian government sent him an email with instructions: Make your way to Camp Baron, a residential complex outside the Kabul International Airport, and wait under the Canadian flag.
He says there are six checkpoints between their home and Camp Baron. On Monday night, he and his son were turned away at the first one. He says the Taliban tore up his visa and refused to let him pass.
His son had more luck the following day. Although Naween was roughed up by Taliban officials wielding guns and pipes, he did eventually make it past the checkpoints.
"He reached the Canadian flag, and he was waiting there with many other families," Khan said. "But there was no representative from the Canadian government or Canadian immigration there."
Naween waited for more than 24 hours with dozens of other families, all waiting for Canadian aid, Khan said. A pipe had burst nearby, and they were standing in sewage water but they still held firm.
"Other countries had their own arrangements. They had their own facilities. They were coming every few hours. They had loudspeakers. They were calling people. They were announcing the names. But there was no official from Canada to take names," Khan said.
He says his son eventually gave up and returned home. But some of the other families waiting by the flag stayed behind, he said.
Then on Thursday, two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans waiting outside the airport, killing at least 72 people and injuring at least 150, according to U.S. and Afghan officials.
The bombs went off at the same spot Naween had been standing the day before. Khan says he fears some of the people his son was waiting with were among those killed.
"This was shocking and a very terrible trauma for us to see," he said. "My son was crying watching this news."
It's unclear how many Canadians and people who applied to come to Canada remain stranded in Afghanistan. Officials briefing reporters on Thursday morning said they received applications representing 8,000 people and that two-thirds of those applications have been processed. They didn't have a tally of how many didn't make it out.
The federal governnment said in an emailed statement that it has evacuated 3,700 people so far, expediting applications and cutting bureaucratic red tape to do so.
"While the evacuation has concluded, our solidarity with the people in Afghanistan as strong as ever," Alexander Cohen, spokesperson for the Office of the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, said.
"We want to assure everyone who has applied and has been approved that their visa remains valid....The evacuation was the first stage of our operation, but it is not the only one. We will do our utmost to support the people of Afghanistan."
Khan, meanwhile, doesn't know what will happen next.
But he and his son are holed up inside, moving from house to house to stay under the Taliban's radar. They have no access to their bank accounts or salaries, he said.
He says he and others like him have been working for 20 years, since the Taliban last fell, to build a healthy, democratic society in Afghanistan.
"We lost everything in a few hours," he said. "Everything collapsed."
Written by Sheena Goodyear with files from CBC News and The Associated Press. Interview with Samandar Khan produced by Jeanne Armstrong.
