Afghan refugees call for Canada to work with Pakistan ahead of scheduled mass deportation
CBC
Ghiasuddin Shahanshahi has been trying to bring his family to Saskatoon since arriving as an Afghan refugee a year ago.
One family member, his sister-in-law, managed to make it safely to Saskatoon this week, but five others are living in a tent on a rooftop in Islamabad, Pakistan. He says they were recently arrested by Pakistani police and now face the risk of being deported back to Afghanistan — into the hands of the Taliban.
Pakistan's government has declared that all undocumented Afghan refugees must leave the country by Nov. 1 or face deportation. Shahanshahi said his family members have been approved as permanent residents to Canada, but they are unable to leave Pakistan because they don't have exit permits — documents granted by the Pakistani government — and would be arrested approaching the airport.
Shahanshahi wants the Canadian government to work with the Pakistani government on a solution to allow Afghan refugees to safely exit Pakistan before the deadline.
Nadia Manucher, Shahanshahi's sister-in-law, arrived in Saskatoon on Thursday. She was already in Pakistan as a student before the fall of Kabul and had the documents needed to travel. She wants to resume her education in Saskatoon.
"I'm finally feeling safe. I feel so happy for my future. I have no words," Nadia Manucher told CBC News Thursday at the Saskatoon Airport.
Manucher echoed Shahanshahi's call for the Canadian and Pakistani governments to work together.
"Please do something for the rest of the family. My uncle is ill and there is no one to bring him to the hospital. I'm so worried," Manucher said. "The [Pakistani] police don't respect Afghani refugees. They are treating us like animals."
According to the UN Refugee Agency, there are more than 1.3 million registered Afghan refugees and 775,000 undocumented Afghans in Pakistan.
Shahanshahi said his parents, his two sisters and a niece fled Afghanistan after seeing friends being forcibly married to the Taliban. The family entered Pakistan in February with the aid of a trafficker who disguised them as shepherds.
"It took my family a week to travel there, passing through treacherous mountains, using camels and donkeys as their transportation, and now they are stuck in this situation," he said.
Shahanshahi said his 67-year-old father is suffering from stomach pains, worsened by the stress. On his way to the hospital on Oct. 9, he was intercepted by the Pakistani police, who found he had no legal documents.
"They came to my parents' home and arrested all my family. They put them in jail, and not in the police stations," he said.
He said it took $3,500 USD to get his family released.
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