Three charter planes have carried more than 300 Afghan refugees from Tajikistan to Canada, Abdul Musavvir Bahaduri, the head of the community of Afghan refugees in Tajikistan, told Asia-Plus in an interview Friday afternoon.
According to him, these Afghan refugees flew to Canada from Dushanbe airport on September 14 and 20 as well as October 12.
“One more group of Afghan refugees is expected to be carried from Canada to Tajikistan before December this year,” Bahaduri said.
Pars Daily, citing Sean Fraser, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of Canada, reported that 326 Afghan asylum-seekers had been carried from Tajikistan to Canada.
Meanwhile, Mr. Fraser twitted on October 13 that another charter flight landed in Toronto from Tajikistan with 326 Afghan refugees this afternoon.
According to him, over 21,700 Afghan refugees have now arrived in Canada.
As part of Canada's response to the crisis the Government of Canada has committed to welcoming at least 40,000 Afghan refugees, including women leaders, human rights defenders, members of religious and ethnic minorities.
Recall, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, raised grave concerns in late August over the continued detention and deportations of Afghan refugees in Tajikistan, warning once again that forcing people fleeing persecution back to their country against their will is illegal and puts lives at risk.
UNHCR urged the Tajik authorities to stop detaining and deporting refugees, “an action that clearly puts lives at risk.”
Since 2021, UNHCR has reportedly recorded multiple incidents of refugee detentions, forced returns and non-admission to territory for individuals in need of international protection.
A UNHCR global non-return advisory for Afghanistan issued in August 2021 and renewed in February 2022, calls for a bar on forced returns of all Afghan nationals.
