Afghans who worked with NATO start new life in Canada
A group of 117 Afghan citizens has arrived for resettlement in Canada on a flight sponsored by the Canadian authorities. The group left from a temporary facility in Kosovo, where they lived since their evacuation from Kabul in August with logistical support from troops from the NATO Response Force.
Canada has committed to resettling up to a total of 427 NATO-affiliated Afghans and their immediate family members, who must meet Canada’s admissibility requirements. Canada is taking a leading role in ensuring that NATO is able to resettle all those Afghan staff who were evacuated.
“During NATO’s mission in Afghanistan, many brave Afghans stepped up to help Canada and our Allies – often at great risk to themselves. In recognition of the danger they now face because of their work to build a better Afghanistan, Canada will welcome these Afghans and their families with open arms. As a founding member of NATO, Canada is a dedicated member of the Alliance and will continue working with our Allies, partners, and the international community to create a safer and more secure world,” the Honourable Anita Anand, Canada’s Minister of National Defence, said.
Thanks to Allies’ joint efforts, around 2,000 Afghans who worked with NATO, and their families, were evacuated from Kabul in August, as part of the largest evacuation mission in NATO's history. NATO worked around the clock to coordinate evacuations and the NATO Senior Civilian Representative Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo and his staff played a key role to this effect. Over the course of two weeks, more than 120,000 people were flown out, on hundreds of Allied flights. Troops from the US, UK, Turkey, and Norway played a key role in securing the airport and operating a field hospital, while around 800 NATO staff maintained key operations such as fuelling and communications. NATO Allies and partners continue to work together to help evacuated Afghans start a new life. Over the last weeks, 80 former Afghan employees and their families resettled in Norway, more than 100 in the United Kingdom, around 100 in Germany, 20 in Iceland, and several hundred more in other Allied countries.