Inside the secret operation to bring Afghanistan’s last female politicians to Canada
They left their country for the last time in the darkness of the morning. Women and children were crammed into the van. Their heads are covered, their faces covered with holes so as not to draw attention to Taliban checkpoints.
A former female politician in Afghanistan, the women in the car are facing a strange threat from their country. Now under the control of the Taliban, women’s rights are diminishing; as recently as August, the government introduced new laws that prevent women from showing their naked faces and speaking in public.
“The day we were waiting for one and a half years ago, today has happened,” said Nilofer when he and his colleagues were preparing to finally leave the country where they are now victims of the regime.
“Unfortunately, no one is safe here.”
Nilofer and Hasna, pseudonyms the CBC is using to protect family members left in Afghanistan, are crammed into the van. They drive through the mountainous terrain that separates their home from Pakistan, silent as they pass through the post-examination checkpoint, hours into one long day.
‘Why is it taking so long?’
When they reach the border, it is dark again. But Nilofer said there is hope after clearing the first hurdle.
That day, they were on their way to Islamabad and hoped it would be a short stay – until their security clearance went through and they were allowed to come to Canada. They were not traveling alone. Both had family members with them and were ready to start a new life.
But nearly a year later, some of the women in that car are still fugitives in Pakistan and could be deported because of expired visas. This, despite the coalition of six members of the Canadian parliament – from all five parties – who have been working together since 2022 to speed up the process of the arrival of Nilofer and 10 other women who were the last female MPs left in Afghanistan.
Bloc Québécois MP Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe explains why she believes Canada should be involved in helping Afghan female MPs reach safety.
“The frustration for all of us is great,” said Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, who is joined by Liberal MP Marcus Powlowski, Bloc Québécois Citizenship and Immigration critic Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Conservative MP Alex Ruff, Liberal MP Leah Taylor Roy and the NDP’s foreign affairs critic. Heather McPherson on file.
“We cannot answer the question: Why is it taking so long?”
Corey Levine is also waiting for that answer.
A campaigner to flee to Pakistan and one who mobilized Canadian politicians, Levine met many female MPs during her many trips to Afghanistan to conduct human rights research.
He never saw Hasna as they were together in that van going to Pakistan; Levine had to leave the women at the border on November 24, 2023, because his visa restrictions did not allow him to follow.
“It was a moving and very painful thing watching them cross that border and disappear again, you don’t know what happened to them,” he said. “You’re just waiting and waiting to get the news.”
Women still exchange updates in group chats and Zoom calls. And although Nilofer, Hasna and their families have crossed the border safely, the latter fear that they may be deported before they are allowed to come to Canada.
Life in Pakistan is safer but not safe
When women came to Pakistan, i the government there was already collapsing for refugees from Afghanistan whose visas had expired while waiting to be accepted in a third country.
Nilofer, Hasna and their families had visas valid until the end of February 2024.
A week before Hasna’s visa expired, she told the CBC through an interpreter that she had heard of many people being sent back to Afghanistan.
She worries that her work as a female politician will make her a victim of the Taliban’s fundamentalist regime if she is ousted. Six months after the Taliban took over Afghanistan, Hasna said she felt like a prisoner in her home in Kabul. He was so scared that he moved to a distant province – he continued to go from house to house until he fled to Pakistan.
His fear was unwarranted. While Hasna was still living in Afghanistan, she and other politicians found out that one of her colleagues had been killed.
Mursal Nabizada was killed in his home in Afghanistan on Jan. 2023. Canadian human rights activist Corey Levine talks about hearing about Nabizada’s death and the circumstances his family faced after his death.
Mursal Nabizada, one of the Afghans that Canadian politicians had promised to help, was killed on Jan. 15, 2023.
Levine learned of Nabizada’s death during a group discussion with female politicians.
“I still feel like I’m thinking about it,” said Levine of Nabizada, a politician who also ran an anti-poverty NGO. “She was an incredible woman.
“It was very painful for the women MPs who were still trapped in Afghanistan and worried – will they follow?”
Pushing to get them out
Nabizada’s death prompted Ruff and his colleagues to talk about speeding up the immigration process for women, noting that western countries – including Canada – funded programs aimed at including Afghan women in politics after the first fall of the Taliban.
“It’s because of us. We encouraged them,” said Brunelle-Duceppe of women entering politics, saying that now there is an obligation to help.
Canadian MPs say they have spoken several times with the two immigration ministers who have been in charge of the department for the past two years, first Sean Fraser and then Marc Miller.
Miller took office in July 2023, about six months into the job Levine and the coalition were doing to get Afghan MPs to Canada. When asked by the CBC about the delay in the filing, Miller did not respond directly.
Instead, the minister said the department is trying to do the right thing but admits that it may be delayed.
“Sometimes things take a very long time, but also in all of this there are many constraints that affect our ability to act quickly in an unstable environment,” he said, adding that the safety of Canadians and the hopeful families who came to Canada are important.
When Levine first approached Canadian politicians nearly two years ago — before planning to defect — he had identified nine women to bring to Canada with their families, and three more were soon added.
Six of those women have arrived, along with Nabizada’s family.
‘I’m very happy to be here’
One night in April, Nilofer and his family arrived at Pearson Airport, staying in Toronto for one night before finally settling in British Columbia.
On the day he arrived, his thoughts were on thanking Levine and the politicians.
“I am very happy to be here, because at least I can read and at least I can [get a] job” said Nilofer. “Thank you to the Canadian government especially to the Canadian Members of Parliament, the members of parliament and Ms. Corey – you have done so much for us. And we will never forget his help.”
Nilofer is already working and learning English; he said he wishes to do a master’s degree in international relations.
In the meantime, he is also in contact with other newcomers to Canada.
But there is still pain in his chest, he said, with family and friends left behind. And women and girls will live without basic opportunities.
“They cannot get an education, they are not allowed to work. So my heart is still with them.”
Hasna is not sure about the status of her file yet. He has been in a safe haven in Islamabad since December.
When CBC spoke to Hasna in April, she was trying to hold out hope that her file would be approved soon. Through a translator, he said he feels Canadians are very accepting of young people, and, although he said it won’t be easy, he hopes he can start a new life here.
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