'Every other country' better than Canada at getting people out of Afghanistan: former correspondent
Kevin Newman says Canada needs to do more to help people get out of Kabul
Kevin Newman wants Canada to do more. The Canadian journalist and volunteer with Veterans Transition Network says Canada has fallen behind in getting people out of Afghanistan, following the collapse of the government and Taliban takeover.
"Many, many countries have set up a much more robust attempts to get people safely through Taliban checkpoints to the airport," Newman told The Current's guest host Anthony Germain.
The former anchor said that because Canada made the decision to withdraw its embassy and military staff two weeks ago, there hasn't been many eyes and ears on the situation. Instead Canada is left coordinating from afar, and he said, "just about every other country" is doing a better job at getting people out compared to Canada.
"Canada's been playing catch-up and we've had to ask a lot of favours of a lot of other countries because we don't have a robust military presence there," said Newman, who used to report from Afghanistan.
"We have a couple of people who are trying to process thousands and thousands of applications, and it's just not working."
Newman said he's been hearing stories of people trying to get out of the country and to Canada at the Kabul airport, but being turned away because their papers are in black and white, instead of colour. He's heard stories of people having to decide whether to leave with without a sister or child, because the family member didn't get approved as well.
He's also heard of people who can't get a Canadian representative on the line, and are stuck leaving voice messages with the hope that they'll get a call back, he said.
The federal government confirmed for the first time Monday that Canada's special forces are operating outside the security cordon of the airport in Kabul to help shepherd both Canadians and Afghans into the airport. And in an interview with The Current on Aug. 18, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marco Mendicino said the federal government was "working tirelessly" to safely remove as many people as possible from the country.
But Afghans like Bashir are still in the dark about whether Canada will include him in a promise to extricate Afghans who contributed to Canada's efforts in Afghanistan. CBC is withholding Bashir's last name because of safety concerns. He lives in Kabul, and worked in government writing policies for gender equality and empowering women. His program was funded by Canada.
Uncertainty
Basir said he's afraid and wants to get his family out of the country. He has applied, but he's not confident he's being heard. He's only received auto replies.
"I got no communication from a person, no phone calls, no messages," said Bashir, who started the process a month ago.
Because of this, Bashir doesn't know how far along his application is, or if anyone has looked at it yet. And with that uncertainty comes fear.
"You don't know where your application is, if you are going to be able to leave the country or you will stay here and wait for the Taliban to identify you," said Bashir.
"At the moment, it's difficult for them to identify who you are and where you live, but that comes later once they have access to all the government offices and to the computer, to the information they need."
It's stories like Bashir's that Newman said have left him wanting more from the Canadian government. One of the options, he said, would be to take people in as refugees, instead of having them fill out the paperwork to become citizens, as the requirements for refugee status are lower.
"The Taliban is waiting and counting down to when they will have to make a terrible decision. Do I do I stay here with hope for Canada, or is it time for me to flee because Canada is not going to be there for me?" said Newman.
Written by Philip Drost. Produced by Samira Mohyeddin, Julie Crysler, and Cameron Perrier.
