Afghan Interpreters, Others Fast-tracking to Canada

[CBH99]

From the article above;

"Globalnews reported that Canada had not approved the evacuation of 100 Nepali guards from its embassy in Kabul, even after its other staff were flown out."

Oh FFS…

These folks WORKED SECURITY AT OUR EMBASSY - some for roughly a decade - and we even screw THEM over??

They are in the city. Working in/around the same damn building our people are. And we can’t print some cards or stamp some papers somehow?


Loss for words. Utterly pathetic.

 

[The Bread Guy]

... Contract expires & criteria were met? Here is your immigrant special visa. Off to Canada you go, as agreed. 10 years later? ...

The current debacle falls on the current management - like someone smarter than me has said in these forums, leaving and leaving in disarray should be two different things. WTF? doesn't even begin to cover it.

That said, a reminder: 10 years ago, there was a fast-track program for interpreters in place that wrapped up when Canada's combat mission ended - concluding in ... something less than stellar success. Even than, processing times approached 2 years. Not to mention perhaps a bit of ministerial infighting not exactly accelerating the process.

Also, when this program was put into place, waaaaaaaaaaay back when this thread started, there was more than just a few people saying we don't want to suck all the educated class out of the country.

Why the f@#$%^&*k aren't lessons ever learned?

 

[CBH99]

Lots of blame to go around, that’s for sure. Thank you for linking those items, helps as a reminder that this wasnt managed well from the very beginning.

Not to go off topic, but how does the government not have a proven process for these types of individuals, re special visas.


Ending the fast track program when our combat mission ended seems incredibly unfair, and to me it comes across like we weren’t sincere in our appreciation of their help.

I’ll Google this more later. But having that program in place for 6 months to 1 year after our combat mission ended would have been a nice gesture, given the delays that will inevitably occur.

 

[The Bread Guy]

... how does the government not have a proven process for these types of individuals, re special visas ...

You'd think that's the case, but if the best they could do back then was 2 year turn-around, sounds like there was loads o' fine tuning to be done then as well as now.

Some media linked earlier in the thread say the vetting process is partly to blame. Double-edged sword, that. More vetting does increase the odds of keeping baddies out of Canada (remember all the references to how many fighting-age men were in those photos of Syrian refugees?). More vetting, though, adds more "red tape" and more time.

Finding the balance between speed & thoroughness appears to be the issue that hasn't been resolved since "Bring 'em to Canada 1.0".

 

[Mills Bomb]

I'm surprised members here don't feel this will be an issue in the election. I think if the public is aware of what occurred while our PM was at the GG's announcing the election and who we left behind it's something Canadians would care about. Nepal certainly cares and that doesn't look good on us as a nation. The main issue seems to be a lack of coverage and information on exactly what happened, I think this could still make mainstream news if more stories develop from it.

 

[CBH99]

You'd think that's the case, but if the best they could do back then was 2 year turn-around, sounds like there was loads o' fine tuning to be done then as well as now.

Some media linked earlier in the thread say the vetting process is partly to blame. Double-edged sword, that. More vetting does increase the odds of keeping baddies out of Canada (remember all the references to how many fighting-age men were in those photos of Syrian refugees?). More vetting, though, adds more "red tape" and more time.

Finding the balance between speed & thoroughness appears to be the issue that hasn't been resolved since "Bring 'em to Canada 1.0".

Which, in the case of our contracted helpers in Afghanistan, seems more cumbersome than it needs to be.

If someone was embedded with our deployed forces for one, two, or three rotations - I would think that would be reasonable enough vetting.

Their references would be our members, all of whom have some form of government security clearance. And verification of their employment would be easy, as we were their employer.

If we signed a contract with them, and they fulfilled their end - we should have just fulfilled our end. When he says him, his wife, and two kids are ready to move once his contract has been completed - here is your visa, instructions on next step, etc.

At that point we know a lot more about them than some random Syrians hopping on a plane for optics.

0.02


Just to clarify, I agree with you entirely, and am not disagreeing with anything you said. Just adding more dong to the shovel of

 

[CBH99]

I'm surprised members here don't feel this will be an issue in the election. I think if the public is aware of what occurred while our PM was at the GG's announcing the election and who we left behind it's something Canadians would care about. Nepal certainly cares and that doesn't look good on us as a nation. The main issue seems to be a lack of coverage and information on exactly what happened, I think this could still make mainstream news if more stories develop from it.

I think and desperately hope the media will pursue it aggressively, especially now that an election has been called. Truly.

 

[brihard]

I'm surprised members here don't feel this will be an issue in the election. I think if the public is aware of what occurred while our PM was at the GG's announcing the election and who we left behind it's something the public would care about. Nepal certainly cares and that doesn't look good on us as a nation. The main issue seems to be a lack of coverage and information on exactly what happened, I think this could still make mainstream news if more stories develop from it.

Canadians don’t give a shit about Afghanistan. They DEFINITELY don’t give a shit about Afghans. There are about 40,000 of us, spread across 338 ridings, who have skin in the game on this one. Electorally it’s a tiny blip. One candidate makes one amusing gaffe, and it will supplant this in the news cycle.

 

[The Bread Guy]

... If someone was embedded with our deployed forces for one, two, or three rotations - I would think that would be reasonable enough vetting.

Their references would be our members, all of whom have some form of government security clearance. And verification of their employment would be easy, as we were their employer.

If we signed a contract with them, and they fulfilled their end - we should have just fulfilled our end. When he says him, his wife, and two kids are ready to move once his contract has been completed - here is your visa, instructions on next step, etc.

There you go making sense - where will we be if THAT takes hold? Bang on - and you'd think someone would have learned the lessons by now.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Meanwhile, no worries, riiiiiiiiiight? This, via Al Jazeera English ...

"Taliban offers amnesty, promises women’s rights and media freedom​

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says group won’t allow territory ‘to be used against anybody or any country’ – updates as they happened ..."

 

[OldSolduer]

I have watched this tragedy unfold over several years now. I can say I have seen worse but in this one we as Canadians are complicit in it.

The announcement by the President of the USA that all American troops would be withdrawn by September 11, 2021 should have been a warning to all of us that the Taliban would at the the very least attempt to seize power once more and rule Afghanistan with an iron fist. The speed at which they did that was stunning to say the least.

To that end, did Global Affairs Canada and the Immigration Department have contingency plans in place to expedite the repatriation of those Afghan citizens and their families that aided our troops? By the looks of it, they did not. They were insisting on a bureaucratic process that may take months to complete. Or maybe the Afghans were "asking for more than we can give".

The announcement that Canada would take 20,000 Afghan refugees is a welcome sign, but I would daresay none of those 20,000 are in Kandahar or Kabul or near Spin Boldak, Massum Ghar or in the Panjiway District. This is smoke and mirrors, hiding the true human tragedy that is unfolding before us.

I'm saddened by the fate that awaits the Afghans who aided our soldiers. Once the journalists and media have departed Afghanistan the Taliban will extract their revenge. The fate of the Afghans will not be a pleasant one.

I'm saddened for the veterans of Afghanistan. I served with many of the soldiers of 2 PPCLI that were deployed to Afghanistan. The "terps" as the interpreters were referred to risked their lives and the lives of their families to aid our troops. They gained the respect of our soldiers and in some cases forged bonds that can only be forged under extreme circumstances - like being ambushed by the Taliban. Our soldiers rotated home, while the terps remained to help the next contingent.

Part of me is angry. I am angry with the lackadaisical response by our PM and cabinet to a genuine human tragedy that we as a nation are complicit in. Instead our Prime Minister calls an election. We failed our allies. Bureaucratic red tape, dithering and inaction by this Prime Minister and cabinet will cost the lives of Afghan people who called us friends an allies.

The President of Afghanistan deserves some very special scorn. He ran away - in essence abandoning his nation and his people. He is a coward. His insistence that Afghan citizens required a passport to leave Afghanistan, even as he knew the Taliban were marching towards Kabul, is especially heinous. By the way, when he deserted his nation and his people, did he have a passport? Rats deserting a sinking ship behave better than this pompous arrogant human being.

This inaction by our nation saddens me. We used to stand for principles. We used to honour our agreements with allies and those who served with us. Now it appears this nation stands for nothing and can't be bothered to honour agreements. It is certainly not the Canada I knew. Its sad.



The above is a copy of a letter I sent out yesterday to various media outlets.


I think the Canadian public will stay engaged in this until oh - tomorrow, maybe the day after.

 

[OldSolduer]

Meanwhile, no worries, riiiiiiiiiight? This, via Al Jazeera English ...

Yup its all good - the leopard has changed its spots has it not? At least until the mainstream media leaves.

 

[YZT580]

The LPC will attempt to attach blame to Harper since he was in charge when we pulled. out. The cons will need to remind the public that it only took a few weeks for Trudeau's new government to reverse several of Harper's initiatives If they didn't like his handling of our allies he has had 6 years to do something about it. This failure is totally his.

 

[CBH99]

I have watched this tragedy unfold over several years now. I can say I have seen worse but in this one we as Canadians are complicit in it.

The announcement by the President of the USA that all American troops would be withdrawn by September 11, 2021 should have been a warning to all of us that the Taliban would at the the very least attempt to seize power once more and rule Afghanistan with an iron fist. The speed at which they did that was stunning to say the least.

To that end, did Global Affairs Canada and the Immigration Department have contingency plans in place to expedite the repatriation of those Afghan citizens and their families that aided our troops? By the looks of it, they did not. They were insisting on a bureaucratic process that may take months to complete. Or maybe the Afghans were "asking for more than we can give".

The announcement that Canada would take 20,000 Afghan refugees is a welcome sign, but I would daresay none of those 20,000 are in Kandahar or Kabul or near Spin Boldak, Massum Ghar or in the Panjiway District. This is smoke and mirrors, hiding the true human tragedy that is unfolding before us.

I'm saddened by the fate that awaits the Afghans who aided our soldiers. Once the journalists and media have departed Afghanistan the Taliban will extract their revenge. The fate of the Afghans will not be a pleasant one.

I'm saddened for the veterans of Afghanistan. I served with many of the soldiers of 2 PPCLI that were deployed to Afghanistan. The "terps" as the interpreters were referred to risked their lives and the lives of their families to aid our troops. They gained the respect of our soldiers and in some cases forged bonds that can only be forged under extreme circumstances - like being ambushed by the Taliban. Our soldiers rotated home, while the terps remained to help the next contingent.

Part of me is angry. I am angry with the lackadaisical response by our PM and cabinet to a genuine human tragedy that we as a nation are complicit in. Instead our Prime Minister calls an election. We failed our allies. Bureaucratic red tape, dithering and inaction by this Prime Minister and cabinet will cost the lives of Afghan people who called us friends an allies.

The President of Afghanistan deserves some very special scorn. He ran away - in essence abandoning his nation and his people. He is a coward. His insistence that Afghan citizens required a passport to leave Afghanistan, even as he knew the Taliban were marching towards Kabul, is especially heinous. By the way, when he deserted his nation and his people, did he have a passport? Rats deserting a sinking ship behave better than this pompous arrogant human being.

This inaction by our nation saddens me. We used to stand for principles. We used to honour our agreements with allies and those who served with us. Now it appears this nation stands for nothing and can't be bothered to honour agreements. It is certainly not the Canada I knew. Its sad.



The above is a copy of a letter I sent out yesterday to various media outlets.


I think the Canadian public will stay engaged in this until oh - tomorrow, maybe the day after.

Given that it’s election time, the media may very well focus and hammer on this for a while. Until the election anyway, we can only hope.

The public will engage with whatever the media tells them to. If this is the focus - along with plenty of interviews and footage - and pushes the narrative, I believe the public will be engaged for as long as the media tells them to be.

If the media doesn’t push it, and chooses to cover what shape that cloud outside the window looks like - I think you are right. Everybody will be outraged for a day or two.

 

[Haggis]

Canadians don’t give never gave a shit about Afghanistan.

FTFY. The Canadian Forces were at war. Canada was at the hockey game.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Why the f@#$%^&*k aren't lessons ever learned?

We've always called it Lessons Learned. Even made lots of cool looking little books on the subjects. Unfortunately, the Canadian version has mostly been 'Lessons Identified, no further action required.'

 

[brihard]

Mercedes Stephenson is now reporting the Embassy Gurkhas are out.

 

[Brad Sallows]

the vetting process

Only partly tongue in cheek...


"Who did you work for? Do you have a picture of yourself? Give it to me. I'll get back to you in a couple of days."
...
"Maj So-and-so, this is a picture of a person claiming to be X. Did he work for you?"

Of course, all of that is probably to be found in the social media accounts of the people who worked together.

 

[Good2Golf]

Mercedes Stephenson is now reporting the Embassy Gurkhas are out.

Of course, because the PM and his Star Chamber got the latest public opinion pools that said they should look after the Gurkhas too.

…what a great job the Young Prince is doing!

#IStandWithTrudeau


….NOT!

 

[Altair]

Of course, because the PM and his Star Chamber got the latest public opinion pools that said they should look after the Gurkhas too.

…what a great job the Young Prince is doing!

#IStandWithTrudeau


….NOT!

Complain that they didn't do it, complain when they do do it.

Heh.

Glad they are out.