Afghan refugees, ‘very resilient’ human rights staff arrive in Edmonton

On Friday, 170 refugees from Afghanistan  — dozens of whom are human rights staff — arrived in Edmonton.

The group landed in Calgary earlier this week and travelled to Edmonton by bus. Companies have been working for months to deliver them to Edmonton, Catholic Social Providers (CSS) mentioned.

“Lastly we obtained affirmation that sure, in actual fact, they’re coming, they will all come to Edmonton and they’re going to arrive as we speak,” mentioned Kathryn Friesen, a director of immigration for CSS.

The refugees fled Afghanistan through the Taliban rebellion in August 2021 and had been in hiding till earlier this week, when a flight may very well be booked, CSS mentioned.

“They’re human rights staff, human rights defenders,” Friesen mentioned. “They had been doing that work in Afghanistan, which did put them in a really precarious state of affairs when the Taliban took over the nation, and so they needed to instantly exit into Pakistan.

“They had been flagged as a really at-risk group and Canada took on the problem of agreeing to deliver them right here.”

The Liberal authorities initially dedicated to resettling 20,000 Afghan refugees however upped that pledge through the federal election marketing campaign to 40,000.

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“Edmonton and our company, CSS, our sector colleagues locally have all been excited and prepared and eager to welcome this very resilient, very resourceful group that’s actually been doing a little superb work on the bottom in Afghanistan,” Friesen mentioned.

“A lot of these arriving labored for many years documenting human rights abuses and struggle crimes in Afghanistan and intend to proceed their work, as soon as settled, with the help of Canadian and worldwide non-governmental organizations,” CSS added in a information launch.

Friesen mentioned these explicit refugees have a excessive degree of English and are extremely educated. Forty per cent of them are kids, she mentioned.

Many are selecting to maintain a decrease profile and never discuss their resettlement publicly for security causes, Friesen defined.

“It may be very dangerous state of affairs. As a result of if they’ve members of the family or mates at house, and so they have a excessive profile locally, they may have individuals of their house nation focused attributable to what’s occurring right here.”

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As soon as they arrive, the newcomers will full their quarantine in Edmonton.

CSS will them resettle within the metropolis, offering lodging, orientation, language evaluation, and different sources, as wanted.

CSS helps between 10,000 and 15,000 newcomers to Canada every year and has helped resettle 118 Afghan refugees in Edmonton and Purple Deer since August.

Journey for them was supported by Entrance Line Defenders and and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

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Friesen expects Edmonton will welcome extra Afghan refugees within the months to come back.

“Folks like human rights defenders and individuals who labored with Canada in Afghanistan and now are focused due to the work they did with our nation.

“This can be a good alternative for Edmonton to point out how we are able to welcome individuals into our group and hopefully do that properly in order that we are able to proceed bringing newcomers into our group and actually have a society that focuses on the social inclusion of refugees.”

She mentioned the group response over the previous few months has been “overwhelming and heartwarming.”

To assist the welcoming and resettlement work, go to the CSS refugee attraction web page or associate businesses: Mennonite Centre for Newcomers, Islamic Household Social Providers Affiliation, and Motion for Wholesome Communities.