The Liberal government had a “moral duty” to rescue Afghan allies trapped behind Taliban lines, Canadians told in-house researchers with the Department of Immigration. Federal focus groups found the public upset that translators and other friends of the Canadian Armed Forces were left behind..“There was a high level of support for including or prioritizing this group, not only out of a moral duty but because they would be more likely to speak English, be educated and have skills that were already proven to be of value to Canada,” said a report..According to Blacklock's Reporter, more than a million Afghans asked to settle in Canada, by official estimate. Cabinet set a quota of 40,000 refugees. A total 18,075 have arrived here to date..Canadians interviewed in focus groups nationwide said cabinet in addition to aiding wartime allies should have made special efforts to help human rights defenders, religious minorities and other persecuted groups get out of Afghanistan. “Some participants including newcomers from other countries in the region mentioned they knew Afghan people to be hardworking, often spoke many languages and were generally ‘nice people,’” wrote researchers..Results were drawn from 16 focus groups. The Department of Immigration paid Quorus Consulting Inc. $115,347 for the study..“My heart goes all to the refugees,” researchers quoted one respondent. “They shouldn’t be left behind to suffer,” said another. Focus group participants were also quoted as saying, “they deserve to live in a place where they can show their talents,” and “We have a responsibility to the Afghans who helped us.”.Then-Ambassador Reid Sirrs abruptly closed Canada’s embassy August 15, 2021 and fled the city aboard a half-empty military plane. The diplomatic departure left behind some 1,250 Canadian citizens and thousands more Afghan allies as Taliban forces overtook Kabul. “A more proactive response was warranted,” the Commons Special Committee on Afghanistan wrote in a June 9 report..“We were the first embassy to depart,” Major-General (Ret’d) Dean Milner, the last Canadian combat commander in the region, testified at a February 14 committee hearing. “That was very embarrassing for a lot of us on the ground.”.“They could have been a lot of help,” testified Milner. “I know I was working with a number of them in the Embassy and all of a sudden, boom, they were gone.”.Afghan nationals in committee testimony by videoconference from undisclosed locations earlier pleaded with MPs for help. “We lost,” Hameed Khan, a former army translator, testified April 11. “We failed. Look at us now”.“Our families are starving,” said Khan. “We are all living in fear.”
