Afghan refugees leave for resettlement in Canada

Afghan refugees have started to leave the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan for permanent resettlement in Canada under a landmark plan that could bring an end to a lingering humanitarian problem in the region. Three or four Afghan families left for Canada last week, following the first six individuals who arrived there earlier this month. The departures will continue until a total of 525 refugees accepted for resettlement by the Canadian government leave Kyrgyzstan before the end of the year. "This special resettlement project for Afghan refugees here in Kyrgyzstan is part of our larger strategic goal to find solutions for all of our refugee groups," Gregory Balke, senior lawyer with the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, told IRIN. Hundreds of Afghans had sought refuge in Kyrgyzstan, one of the states to emerge from the collapse of the Soviet Union, as war raged in their homeland over the past quarter of a century. Some had been students in Kyrgyzstan when war raged against Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s, others were associated with the left-wing Najibullah government that was overthrown in 1992, and a final wave fled when the Taliban seized Kabul in 1996. Some had been able to return over the years but many were unlikely to ever feel safe to go home - the first solution always sought by UNHCR. In addition, none had been locally integrated so far, the second choice of UNHCR for resolving the predicament of a refugee. That left only the solution of resettlement in a third country, a sometimes lengthy procedure which is normally conducted family by family. But the Canadian authorities responded quickly when the UN refugee agency suggested an innovative look at the whole group of 650 Afghan refugees who were still in Kyrgyzstan. Officials from the Canadian embassy in Moscow flew to Kyrgyzstan and carried out individual appraisals, accepting almost all the refugees. Afghan refugees approached by IRIN in the capital said that although they had been welcomed in Kyrgyzstan, none felt they could realistically become part of Kyrgyz society due to linguistic and cultural differences. Nafisa Naziri, a former teacher from Kabul, has established an association for Afghani women in Bishkek. "We are still treated as foreigners here. There is nothing for us in Afghanistan, so moving to the West looks like the best option for my family," she said. James Lynch, head of the UNHCR office in Bishkek, said that after the group resettlement to Canada is completed later this year, the Kyrgyz government will re-examine the cases of those few remaining. At that point some refugees might opt for voluntary repatriation back to Afghanistan and the residual caseload might be allowed to apply for Kyrgyz citizenship. The success of UNHCR and Kyrgyz government efforts to find long term solutions for refugees has highlighted similar situations elsewhere in the Central Asia region, where there are also Afghan refugees - often well educated - who are unlikely to repatriate. "Afghan refugees currently live in each of the five Central Asian countries," said Rano Saidumarova, a lawyer with UNHCR Bishkek, who implemented the special project. "In each of these countries, there are unique protection concerns." Canadian diplomats are already planning to examine Afghan refugee cases in neighbouring Tajikistan later this year, using the model developed in Kyrgyzstan.