[ad_1]
Canadian politicians worked hard to bring Mursal Nabizada, a woman who was a Member of Parliament in Afghanistan before the Taliban took over in August 2021, to this country before she was killed this weekend.
The exact circumstances of Nabizada’s death are unclear, but police in Kabul said he and his bodyguard were killed by unknown gunmen, and his brother was wounded, all in an attack that took place on his home on Saturday night.
“This is devastating and very tragic news,” said Alex Ruff, Conservative MP for Bruce-Grey-Owen-Sound, Ont., one of six Canadian lawmakers who have been working behind the scenes since last October to rush immigration. for Nabizada and eight other female Afghan parliamentarians who remained in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the country nearly two years ago.
“We came together as an all-party group to support a movement that is so important to our safety and coming to Canada,” said Ruff, a military veteran who served in Afghanistan.
The group also includes fellow Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May, Alexis-Brunelle Duceppe of the Bloc Québécois, Heather McPherson of the NDP, and Liberals Marcus Powlowski and Leah Taylor Roy.
“We cannot lose another woman who is on the list. We cannot afford it. We have a responsibility,” said Brunelle-Duceppe. “This government is supposed to be a feminist government. Well, it has to be proven.”
The slain MP had a ‘bright spark,’ activists say
Corey Levine, a human rights activist who met Nabizada while deployed in Afghanistan with the United Nations from November 2020 to June 2021, said he had “a bright spark for her.”
Levine is also in Afghanistan in June 2022. He said he was able to convince Canadian lawmakers of various political stripes to work together to bring Nabizada and eight other female politicians to Canada from Afghanistan.
“Their lives range from the top of Afghan society as a public figure representing their constituents in Parliament to hiding.”
Women in Afghanistan are struggling to cope with the latest rules imposed by the Taliban government that restrict women’s freedoms, including school bans and even bans on female aid workers.
He said initially Nabizada wanted to stay in Afghanistan, but Levine convinced the former MP that moving to Canada would be safer.
“She was ready to go,” said Levine, who learned of Nabizada’s killing on Saturday through a group chat with other female lawmakers.
“I ended up staying up all night texting women,” he said. “We’re just trying to process the loss, what it means to him … just trying to be there.”
The government is willing to cooperate with all parties
The CBC reached out to Immigration Minister Sean Fraser for an interview, but the federal government did not make him available.
In a statement issued jointly by his office and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Ottawa condemned the killing of Nabizada, and called for “the perpetrators of this heinous crime to be brought to justice.”
The federal government also said it will continue to do everything it can to welcome Afghans.
“This includes working with Members of Parliament from all parties to advance our country’s efforts, and specifically, to bring more women leaders to Canada,” said the statement, which was brief about this group of female Afghan parliamentarians.
But Taylor Roy, one of the two governing Liberal caucuses between the Canadian Parliament trying to bring women to Canada, suggested there are some challenges and it is not a simple matter to put women on the plane leaving Afghanistan.
“Many people apply through this [immigration] program, and one of the problems is that these women are still in Afghanistan, “Taylor Roy said. “And of course there is a great danger to go to another country.”
“They need to be assured that they have somewhere to go because we know neighboring countries have returned refugees to Afghanistan.
In late December, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada told CBC News it had received word from the Pakistani government that it would not force undocumented Afghan migrants to return to Afghanistan.
The federal government has pledged to bring 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada. As of August 2021, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says 27,345 Afghan nationals have arrived here under various programs.
Afghanistan’s Taliban-run higher education ministry said female students would not be allowed access to the country’s universities until further notice. Frozan Rahmani, an Afghan-Canadian journalist, has documented the erosion of women’s rights in the country since the Taliban took control of Kabul in the summer of 2021.
[ad_2]
Source link