Canada should fly vulnerable Afghans directly here, do checks after: advocate – National

Afghans who are facing immediate, high risks from the Taliban should be brought straight into Canada now, an advocate says.

Canada can worry about identification checks, such as fingerprinting, afterwards, Tim Laidler of the Veterans Transition Network told host Mercedes Stephenson in an interview for The West Block.

“What I’d really like to see is the Canadian government fly Afghans directly from Afghanistan to Canada, and as a public, we accept the risk that there may be some people on those planes that shouldn’t be here,” Laidler said.

At-risk Afghans are facing serious bureaucratic hurdles as they attempt to seek refuge in Canada, Laidler explained. As it stands now, Afghans must go to a third country — one that has a Canadian embassy — in order to be fingerprinted.

To enter that third country, they need to secure an Afghan passport and a visa. But, Laidler said, “most countries will not allow Afghan passport holders to come in or be granted a visa.”

“This is a big barrier,” he said.

Some in the Canadian government are concerned about the “risk” involved if it doesn’t identify refugees before flying them to Canada, Laidler said. But they could be fingerprinted upon arrival and, if the government doesn’t like what they see, they can “send them back.”

“It’s not something Canada likes to do because it’s a very difficult process with refugee law and all those other things,” he said.

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Canada can deport anyone who is not a citizen, for reasons including criminality, exhausting attempts to obtain permanent residency and non-compliance with immigration laws.