Canada changes online criteria for Afghan refugee program; only those who fled eligible
The online criteria for the other program, which is aimed at interpreters and others who helped Canada during its military mission as well as embassy staff, still allows those inside Afghanistan to apply.
Global News – The Canadian government has quietly changed the criteria on its website for a special program for vulnerable Afghan refugees so that only those who have already managed to escape to other countries are eligible.
The online criteria for the “special humanitarian program” used to include Afghans “who are in Afghanistan or outside of Afghanistan,” but it was changed this month to apply only to those “outside of Afghanistan.”
The program is one of two set up to help bring 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada and is intended for vulnerable groups including women leaders, persecuted religious or ethnic minorities, LGBTQ people, and journalists.
The online criteria for the other program, which is aimed at interpreters and others who helped Canada during its military mission as well as embassy staff, still allows those inside Afghanistan to apply. The government said Monday that the change to the website was a “communications rather than a policy change.”
Alex Cohen, a spokesman for Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino, said Canada would continue to do its utmost to help vulnerable Afghans inside and outside the country.
Since the Taliban seized Kabul and took control in August, it has been increasingly difficult to get people out.
Canada ended its airlift mission from Kabul near the end of August as the U.S. was completing its own withdrawal from the country. Thousands of people with permission to travel to Canada were left behind _ including Canadian citizens.
