Afghan family 'thankful' to settle in Halifax after escaping Kabul

Rohuddin Zia arrived safely in Nova Scotia with his family about a month ago after fleeing from Afghanistan, but the fear he feels for the Taliban regime is still with him.

"Sometimes in my sleep when I dream I'm in Afghanistan, I shake," he said.

Following his work as a security guard at the Canadian Embassy in Kabul and then an interpreter for the Canadian Armed Forces in Kandahar, Zia was convinced his life was in danger if he remained in his home country after the Taliban seized control.

"If they found out about us, if they [knew] about me or other interpreters that worked with Canadian or other coalition forces, they [would] cut [our] heads," Zia said.   

Along with his mother, wife and four young children, the family left their home behind in Kabul and flew out of Afghanistan on Aug. 14, days before scenes of chaos erupted at the airport.

Sometimes in my sleep when I dream I'm in Afghanistan, I shake.- Rohuddin Zia

"I left Afghanistan by help of Canadian Armed Forces with their military airplane charter. We're thankful about this," he said. "If we stayed eight hours more, we wouldn't have any chance to leave Kabul."

After first landing in Kuwait followed by a stop in Germany, Zia and his family arrived in Halifax last month. 

They've only just moved into an apartment and are now looking into getting their six- and seven-year-old daughters enrolled in school. The family also has a three-year-old boy and baby girl.

"It's a safe place for us. Everything here is good. Our family is happy," he said.

The Zia family are among 2,400 Afghans who have arrived in Canada under a special immigration program. 

About 9,400 others have been approved to settle in Canada and the federal government has said it remains committed to bringing 40,000 refugees from Afghanistan.

The Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has said it continues to process applications for Afghan refugees around the clock, but the biggest obstacle remains secure routes out of the country.

Zia has other family members who are still in Afghanistan and are desperate to leave.

"They are hiding in their houses with their families. They cannot go even to get their passports because it's very dangerous," he said.

The Zias are one of two families who recently arrived in Halifax from Afghanistan, according to the Afghan Society of Halifax, which is providing support to both families.

"If they need any connection, any support, any information or transportation, I can help them," said Gulmakai Sarvar, the society's president.

She's happy to see families starting new lives in Canada, but she often thinks about the people who are still trying to escape the Taliban's rule, including her own relatives.

"It's really bad. I am really sad all the time. We are living here, but our feeling is all over there, especially for our families. It is really hard," she said.

With a total of about 300 people from Afghanistan living in Halifax, Sarvar said she'll be happy to connect the Zia family with the group.

That's another thing Rohuddin Zia is grateful for now that he's here to stay in Canada.

"I will never go back to Afghanistan because it is not a safe place for us," he said.