Former general says Ottawa must help former translator's family escape Taliban
OTTAWA — A former top general says it would be 'unconscionable' for Ottawa to allow the family of an Afghan translator who risked his life to help Canadian soldiers to be deported back to Afghanistan.
Retired general Rick Hillier, a former chief of the defence staff, said it would be appalling if Canada failed to help the ex-translator's sister, who fled to Turkiye from Afghanistan but has been denied permission to remain in that country.
'That would be unconscionable, if she ends up getting deported from Turkiye and has to go back to Afghanistan to live under that brutal Taliban regime — who hate women just as a starting point,' Hillier told The Canadian Press in a recent interview.
'We can do better.'
The woman and her children fled Afghanistan and the Taliban in 2018. That was too early to qualify them for a special, temporary federal policy designed to bring the extended families of former military language and cultural advisers to Canada.
Now, she said she fears that she and her 22-year-old son will soon face deportation from Turkiye and reprisals in Afghanistan because her brother assisted Canadian troops.
Hillier said adhering too closely to the policy's strict time frame 'would be ludicrous in the extreme.'
'Let's not get stuck on a bureaucratic number,' he said, adding that the woman 'needs our support because her brother supported and served us.'
The woman said she believes the Taliban killed her husband in 2013 because of her brother's work with Canadian troops. The Canadian Press has agreed to not publish the names of members of the family because of the threat posed by the Taliban.
Her brother, a Canadian citizen who worked under the code name 'Sam' for the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan 15 years ago, has written letters to Immigration Minister Lena Diab and Prime Minister Mark Carney, to no avail.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said it cannot comment on specific cases due to privacy legislation.
'The government of Canada takes the safety and security of Afghans extremely seriously and we sympathize with people in this extremely difficult situation. For reasons of privacy and security, we are unable to provide specific details, even with the consent of the person in question,' said department spokesperson Danielle Hickey in an emailed statement.
Sam also has raised the matter with the office of the Canadian Armed Forces Ombudsman. He said he is running out of both time and places to turn for help.
Sam and two other former military language and cultural advisers — whose families also did not qualify under the policy — challenged the government over the policy in Federal Court. Their case was dismissed earlier this summer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2025.
Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press
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The university launched its Project Resilience scholarship program back in 2022, to provide students fleeing war, conflict or political violence in their home countries with funding to study at the University of Regina. "We will provide them with free housing and a meal plan, as long as they will pay the international tuition," Keshen said, adding that the school has the "luxury" of space on campus. "We're one of the places in Canada that actually has capacity to accept students on our campus, in rooms," Keshen said, "We don't have a housing crisis at U of R." The $500,000 fundraising goal would cover all the students put forth by Women Leaders of Tomorrow. Currently, Keshen said there's enough money to bring "a portion of those students" over, pending approval from the federal government for their study permits. "If we can't do it all, we'll do what we can," Keshen said. All the prospective students are "very talented," as many have attended professional schools and are partway through their masters' degrees, Keshen said. "We're hoping that we can help these very deserving students have a new opportunity at the University of Regina, rather than returning to what's going to be horrible circumstances," Keshen said. He said the university has found that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has been operating at a "glacial pace" for processing international students. "Sadly the refusal rate is very high or these applications just don't get processed. They sit and they wait and then the student by default doesn't get over here," Keshen said. "Really this is a federal issue at this point," he said. "The ball is in Ottawa's court now." In a statement to CBC, IRCC acknowledged that some students, including those with acceptance letters to Canadian schools, "may have been experiencing increased processing times for their study permit applications." "While an offer of admission is an important step, it does not automatically lead to a study permit," the statement said. "Decisions are made by highly-trained officers who carefully and systematically assess each application against the criteria set out in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and its regulations," said the statement. Rezayee said even if all 25 women can come to Saskatchewan, there will still be more left behind in Qatar. "We're trying to help as many as we can," she said. Women Leaders of Tomorrow is currently looking for volunteers in Regina to help the women settle into their new communities — things like giving the women a tour of the city and helping them find a doctor. She said the group wants to start the admission letter process, though the final number for how many can come is still being determined. A life interrupted Nilab said she has been in contact with the University of Regina about what she'll study, but her younger sister is still waiting for news. The two are separated from the rest of their family, who were able to immigrate to the United States before President Donald Trump restricted the entry of Afghan nationals to the United States. Nilab had already mailed all belongings from Qatar to the United States when the policy change was made. "My clothes are in the U.S. and I'm still here," she said, joking that if she makes it to Canada, it will be "easier" to get them back. But being separated from her family is painful, she said. "It is like part of your body is here, another part of your body is with them." She said she will only go to Canada if her sister is able to as well, no matter how much she wants to finish her education. "I registered for my bachelors in 2018. Then a lot happened," said Nilab. If the Taliban hadn't upended the trajectory of her life, she would have graduated and had a PhD by now, she said. "But I'm still stuck," Nilab said. She wants to complete a masters degree in AI and her sister is planning to get a masters degree in cybersecurity. Nilab says she is sad she was unable to study in the U.S., "But another hope is that [the university of] Regina will help us to get our masters not in America, but in Canada."
