Afghan Quebecers struggle to stay hopeful as Canada ends rescue mission

Burdened with the fear of losing his family in Afghanistan, Khalid Faqiri is struggling to stay hopeful. 

He's pleading with the federal government to help him get his family out of Kabul.

"When your mind is occupied, you cannot really work. You cannot really eat," he said.

Faqiri says his family has a "history" with the Taliban after they killed his father in 2008. Now, his mother, his three sisters and his 16-year-old brother are trapped in the capital, hiding until they can find a way to join him in Canada.

A permanent resident, Faqiri has been living in Quebec City for four years with his wife.

"To be honest, I have told them to stay put … until I can try to find some help," he said. "It's already dangerous enough." 

Of the 300 Afghan refugees that Quebec's Immigration Ministry has said are coming, 100 will be settled in the greater Montreal region and 200 in Sherbrooke, Gatineau and elsewhere in the province, said Tawab Ludin, director of the Maison Afghane-Canadienne.

Community organizations will be meeting with representatives of the City of Montreal and Quebec's Immigration Ministry on Tuesday to determine how they can best support those arriving, said Victoria Jahesh, executive director of the Afghan Women's Centre of Montreal. 

Jahesh said volunteers at the centre are pooling together 100 hours of free translation and interpreting services to help the refugees adjust to life in Canada.

Since the Taliban insurgency, Faqiri says, Kabul is no place for families, much less ones without a patriarch. He's been financially supporting his siblings and mother from abroad.

"I'm their only hope and have always been," he said. 

Feeling betrayed

Beyond denouncing the Taliban and helping Afghans escape, Ludin says Canada and the international community have a responsibility to tackle the issue at its source and protect the Afghan people, who feel betrayed. 

The Maison Afghane-Canadienne, along with several other community groups, are heading to Ottawa on Aug. 28 to stage a demonstration, calling on the federal government to heighten diplomatic pressure on Pakistan for sponsoring terrorists.

"We stood side by side with international allies," he said. "Afghanistan is burning, but if we don't stop [the Taliban], this flame will just get bigger and bigger."

Why people in Afghanistan continue to suffer 20 years later continues to baffle Fahima Sultani, a Montrealer whose cousin is in Kabul with his wife and their six children.

"Even if you're not the direct target, anything could happen because there is constantly firing," she said. "I don't see hope."

An Afghan youth collective is planning a solidarity march in Sherbrooke on Aug. 29. 

Atiqullah Aslam, one of the organizers, told Radio-Canada's Vivement le retour Wednesday that his whole family is in Afghanistan. He says criticizing the situation without doing anything is a waste of time, a luxury Afghans can't afford.    

"We don't feel well," he said. "It's exhausting and it's heartbreaking."

As for Faqiri, he says all he needs is for the Canadian government to get his family out of Afghanistan since he can continue to provide for them on his own. 

"Bringing them here would be one of the best gifts that the government could ever give me because it's my mother. Who could be more beloved than that to you?"