Thursday, April 30, 2009

A Cry In The Dark Has Been Answered!

I talked recently to a person who left Afghanistan with her family when she was 6, this summer she hopes to go back to visit her Grandmother. She is very excited about going to see what changes have occurred, but is worried about the Taliban. I asked her if she had ever considered being a translator for our troops, she said no way, it was too dangerous. Her family moved to Canada to live a peaceful life, and have become Canadian citizens.

We need to help other Afghan families who just want a good life for their children. It appears we are about to get some TRUE refugees.

Canada to welcome hundreds of Afghan employees

OTTAWA -- Canada is set to open its doors to hundreds of Afghans who face life-threatening risks after having worked with our military and diplomats, The Canadian Press has learned.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says he's putting the final touches on a policy to provide safe haven to Afghans endangered by their association with Canada.

Unlike other NATO countries, Canada has no policy on humanitarian immigration for local staff -- but that's about to change.

Afghans who have been severely injured working with the Canadian military, or who can prove they face threats, will be eligible for fast-track entry.

The first of those ex-employees and their immediate relatives could arrive within months.

The policy goes much further than the one initially considered by the Harper government, which last year said it would examine possible ways to bring over severely injured interpreters only.

The new program will be open to anyone with 12 months' service to the Canadian mission, medical and security checks, and a recommendation letter from a senior soldier or diplomat.


I wholeheartedly agree with this initiative! The Afghans that have been working with our troops deserve a better life, and if Canadian citizenship is what they want and need, let's give it to them. They have been risking their lives to help our soldiers, and if we can save one or two of them and make their family lives better, let's do it.

They denied the Afghans would strain federal resources, saying they represent a tiny fraction of the tens of thousands of refugee claimants Canada receives annually. And unlike many others who come here, they noted, the Afghan workers are all fluent in at least one of Canada's official languages.


They denied??? Who accused them of straining federal resources? If you read the article, it wasn't the NDP, so who does that leave? Funny how that little fact isn't stated in this article. How about the thousands of Tamil Tiger supporters the Liberals let into our country? No one questioned that at the time, as a matter of fact, ex-PM Martin and other Liberal MP's were seen at various Tamil functions and they refused to declare the Tamil Tigers as terrorists. These Afghans are actually real refugees, not the bogus, get a visa, and overstay your welcome cue jumpers, like the Lebanese pretend citizens.

Kenney is a real breath of fresh air. Common sense is back in politics and I like it. Go Kenney Go!

2 comments:

sor said...

I caught this yesterday and felt very proud of our government for acting so quickly.

It is al of the small steps that make a huge difference.

To bad that same reporter hadn't elucidated the fact that the Liberals never bothered to enact such legislation when they were in power.

The reason we never had this program should sit squarely on the shoulders of the Liberals. Cheers.

Anonymous said...

I find it so ironic that Harper is dispelling, one by one, every lie which the LPC hurled at him over the years. Supposedly, he hates immigrants and yet look what he is doing. The LPC did nothing for the these people but our supposedly dictatorial PM who supposedly hates everybody is doing something like this.

However, given the number of lies the LPC hurled at our PM, it may take another 100 years for him to dispel all of them.