Hazara expat gripped with fear for family in Afghanistan as Canada ends evacuation mission

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Calgarian Sharif Sharifi’s family fled Taliban-controlled Afghanistan when he was a young boy in the 1990s, and as he recalls memories from that time, he fears for other relatives who are there now.

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He is overcome with worry for the lives of his cousins, aunts, uncles and their remaining family in Kabul because they are members of the Shia Hazara ethnic group — a group which has historically endured extensive persecution at the hands of the Taliban because they are religious and ethnic minorities.

“They have been targeted, they are being targeted. It’s not something new. We all have bitter, bitter memories about this,” Sharifi said.

“I remember, when I was a kid, I remember how they would just kick the door in and come into the house and look for any reason to take you in.”

Hazaras are of Central Asian descent and are believed to be descendants of Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire, and the Mongol soldiers who conquered the region in the 13th century. But they now represent only a portion of the population of Afghanistan.

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The Taliban’s Sunni fundamentalists consider Shia to be heretics, not true Muslims. The majority of Hazaras practice Shia Islam and have faced discrimination for decades.

After living under Taliban rule for two years in the 1990s, Sharifi’s family fled the country. He was nearly seven years old at the time.

“We thought we could survive it and live in the country. The Taliban had promised the same things they are promising now, right? Unfortunately, things changed quickly after they settled in and we had to flee within a moment’s notice,” Sharifi explained, referencing comments made by a Taliban spokesman last week that they intend to honour women’s rights within the norms of Islamic law.

While growing up in Afghanistan, Sharifi was barred from attending the nearest school because of his ethnicity. And he recalls the night his family had to flee.

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Sharifi’s father was a medical doctor, and one day the Taliban came to the hospital, kidnapped the physicians and put them to work on the frontlines of combat. His father and a small group of other physicians managed to overtake their guards during the night and they escaped back to their families.

“They got home and we were packed in a matter of seconds with anything that we could get our hands on. And we left,” Sharifi said.

“I was just a kid and probably half-asleep through the whole thing. But I imagine that if I had to make that decision now, the thoughts and fears I would have of being caught any moment, never knowing what the next day will bring or knowing where we will go or if my kids will have food. But that’s the best thing we could have done.”

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His family moved between neighbouring countries for six years before arriving in Winnipeg on a frosty day in January 2003.

“There was a big shock to our system of how cold it was. We had never experienced that,” Sharifi said, with a chuckle.

His family later moved to Edmonton for work, and about five years ago Sharifi found a home in Calgary with his wife, Jihan. The couple has a two-year-old boy and Sharifi is an electrical technologist who has worked across Alberta.

As he has watched the Taliban takeover rapidly unfold in the news, Sharifi has also been in contact with his relatives in Afghanistan. Some of their biggest fears are for the women who received educations and could now lose everything.

“I couldn’t tell you the pain and the suffering they’re going through right now. Even though I’ve been through some of it as a child, I cannot comprehend it fully myself,” said Sharifi. “They are in tears and they are afraid.”

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He said he hopes Canada will continue to assist Afghan refugees in any way they can, even as western coalition soldiers leave the country and airlift missions end.

Jean-Christophe Boucher, assistant professor at the University of Calgary and expert on Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan, said he would also be very concerned if he had family in Afghanistan.

He said an agreement between Iran and the Taliban regime that’s currently in place could help protect Hazaras. Iran will only co-operate with the Taliban as long as they leave the Hazaras alone, since Iran has ties with the Hazaras, Boucher said.

For now, angering Iran wouldn’t be in the best interests of the Taliban, but it’s possible that could change in the future.

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“Because of this, the persecution of Hazaras might be limited, but there’s no knowing how long that will last,” said Boucher.

“The chaos is so great in Afghanistan, it’s going to be very difficult to have a sense of how things will evolve once the Taliban begin really running the country.”

One immediate concern, Boucher explained, is that minority groups like the Hazaras openly helped NATO countries and soldiers over the last 20 years which could put targets on some individuals. He said rights will also be taken from women and minority groups over time.

Canada still engaging with international efforts to save refugees, though airlift mission ends

Canada ended its airlift mission Thursday after evacuating roughly 3,700 people from Afghanistan, Gen. Wayne Eyre, Canada’s acting chief of the defence staff, said Thursday morning.

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Eyre added that it’s “heartbreaking” they couldn’t evacuate more people and they wish they could have stayed longer, however, security conditions on the ground were deteriorating. No further evacuation flights are planned.

Canada has received more than 2,500 applications for 8,000 people to come to Canada, and two-thirds have been approved. More than 1,000 have already arrived in Canada and 270 are being resettled in Canadian communities after a quarantine period, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

“We recognize that there are still many applicants who have not been able to travel to Canada under the special immigration program measures in Afghanistan,” said Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada in a statement Thursday.

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“Until such time as the security situation stabilizes, individuals in Afghanistan must assess their security situation to determine their options and take the necessary steps to protect their own personal security and that of their family.”

Canada remains committed to resettling 20,000 Afghan refugees, and will be working with international partners to help women leaders, human rights advocates, LGBTQ+, journalists and religious minorities, among others. They’ll partner with neighbouring countries to support refugees.

“The Government of Canada will also support the UN in co-ordinating an immediate international humanitarian response in the region, including unfettered humanitarian access in Afghanistan,” said Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. “The outpouring of support from Canadians has been outstanding and we thank all those who have already offered their support.”

Sharifi said he and his wife will continue to advocate for his family and other members of Shia Hazara as they write to their MP and other federal leaders here in Canada. They are sharing their story so others might understand their fear.

“We want to feel good about ourselves as a nation. And yes, we are a great nation, and we continuously do great things. But let’s not let this be an exception to that,” Sharifi said.

sbabych@postmedia.com
Twitter: @BabychStephanie