More than 300 Afghan refugees land in Winnipeg

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This article was published 26/08/2022 (1232 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s first large group of refugees from Afghanistan arrived Friday, more than a year after the takeover of their country by Taliban Islamic fundamentalists, bringing hope to local advocates.

“We’re hoping it’s not the last one,” said Boris Ntambwe, the resettlement manager for Accueil Francophone.

He spoke from the busy arrivals hall at Winnipeg’s airport Friday, hours after 324 Afghan refugees arrived on a long-awaited, direct flight from Pakistan.

Of that number, 115 will stay in Manitoba, including 53 in Winnipeg, nearly as many in Brandon and the rest are bound for the Winkler area.

The rest are transferring to be with relatives and join resettlement groups in other parts of Canada, said federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser.

“Seeing the flight land in Winnipeg… it gives me a lot of hope,” Fraser told the Free Press, following an unrelated event in Timmins, Ont.

He said Canada is ramping up chartered flights, with another from Pakistan scheduled to land in Toronto next week.

Fraser said he has seen Afghans literally kiss the tarmac in Canada after risking their lives to bring their children to safety.

“My hope is those kids never know what their parents have gone through to get them here,” he said.

“To see another charter arrive this morning — that makes this job worth doing.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has promised to bring 40,000 Afghan citizens to Canada by the end of 2023. Including the Winnipeg flight, Canada has resettled roughly 17,900 refugees, as the Immigration Department grapples to keep up with its normal workload and other global crises.

The department is on a hiring spree after sustained opposition criticism.

But Fraser noted that roughly 8,000 people selected for resettlement to Canada haven’t found a way to safely flee to a neighbouring country. He noted Canada is a world leader in resettling refugees.

“This is something we should be incredibly proud of — but we can’t just say that being the best in the world is good enough, when we have tens of thousands of vulnerable people whom we’ve made a commitment to, who are still waiting on us,” he said.

Friday’s flight included a large number of children and families of interpreters who had worked for the Canadian military, Ntambwe said.

He said the flight has been in the works since January, and was originally supposed to arrive a month ago, but hit logistical problems. Officials chose Winnipeg because its airport has customs staff, and due to bottlenecks in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

“Manitoba was kind of the last place they could think of,” Ntambwe said. “I think it’s a good thing; Winnipeg was very excited to have them.”

Accueil Francophone was formed to help French-speaking immigrants settle in Manitoba. But it has federal contracts to assist refugees who speak English and other languages, assisting them to find housing, health care and essential needs.

“We know it’s a vulnerable population; everyone knows what happened in Afghanistan and seeing those pictures of people trying to climb on top of the airplanes; it was very traumatic,” Ntambwe said.

He said the refugees have the supports they need to succeed, and a province full of people eager to help them integrate.

“We are so happy that some of them could find a safe haven here in Canada, especially for those folks arriving in Manitoba.”

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca