Immigration department asking would-be Afghan migrants to reach out if detained in Pakistan

CBC News has learned the federal government is warning would-be Afghan migrants waiting on their applications to be completed in Pakistan that they should not leave their accommodations in case they are arrested for lacking legal  documents, and asking them to notify Canadian diplomatic services in Islamabad should they be detained. 

“Any IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) client who has been detained in Pakistan should notify the High Commission of Canada in Pakistan immediately by email,” a note sent to clients on Oct. 30, 2023 reads. “You may also contact the High Commission of Canada in Pakistan on behalf of a detained family member.”

The message arrives on the heels of the Canadian government announcing on Monday it had reached its stated goal of bringing in at least 40,000 Afghans to Canada following Afghanistan’s fall to the Taliban in August 2021. 

But it also comes as Pakistani authorities have been warning Afghans who do not have documents allowing them to legally be present in the country that they must obtain visas by Nov. 1 or face deportation or arrest. The United Nations migration agency, the International Organization for Migration, was warning migrants weeks ago about notifying their guest houses, should they leave on errands. 

The IRCC note also says, “the government of Canada cannot help clients regularize their status in Pakistan. Even if their application for permanent residence to Canada is approved, the Pakistani authorities at the airport may refuse exit if clients have not complied with all local immigration laws.” 

“How can I email them while I’m detained? When the police take me?” asked Mohammad Younas Nasimi, a former military contractor with the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan, who moved to Pakistan two years ago and has since been waiting to find out if the applications for him and his family will be approved for onward travel to Canada.

Nasimi received the email from Immigration Canada on Monday night, hours after he said police in Pakistan had shown up at the doorstep of his guest house in Islamabad, demanding to be let in. 

He said the police eventually left after the guest house told them their clients are Afghan migrants waiting to move to third countries, but they also promised they would return.

Another Afghan man CBC spoke to in Islamabad, who asked not to be identified due to still having relatives in Afghanistan, said he is also dreading a possible arrest following the email he got from the IRCC. 

“We are like prisoners in our hotels,” he said. “We’re not going out for the last two weeks.” 

The man said he spent the last of his cash savings to renew visas for his wife and three children, but has been unable to do the same for himself.

Immigration minister expressed concern to Pakistan

Speaking to journalists at a news conference on Tuesday, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said he spoke to Pakistan’s interim minister of the interior on Sunday and conveyed his concerns about deportations and arrests.

“It was a productive conversation,” Miller said. “Obviously in order for this to work and to get people to safety in Canada, it takes a working relationship.

“I am also very conscious of my role to be very careful in not lecturing people about their interior domestic politics,” he added. 

Miller also addressed the note sent out by his department to would-be migrants. 

“I do not presume that a migrant in a jail cell will receive any form of communication,” he said. 

Meanwhile, his government is also facing calls to increase the number of Afghans it will admit to Canada. 

“The 40,000 target is an important one that we have met,” said Gauri Sreenivasan, the co-executive director for the Canadian Council for Refugees. “But the needs are significant. The bonds between Canada and Afghanistan are significant and certainly the council would be encouraging the Canadian government to look to see what more can be done given the dire situation that so many find themselves in Pakistan.” 

Miller said the 40,000 number is not a ceiling in and of itself. “We do have to look at what our commitment was to the Afghans,” he said.

It is unclear how many Afghans have their applications still pending. The Immigration department does not release those numbers, citing operational security.