Farouq Samim, pictured in Ottawa on Dec. 19, is one of the founders of Operation Abraham, which has worked to bring Afghans fleeing Taliban persecution to Canada. He is now trying to get his family members out of Pakistan to Canada.Dave Chan/The Globe and Mail
For more than two years, Operation Abraham has worked to bring more than 100 Afghans fleeing Taliban persecution to Canada. The final family on its list, left behind and living in a cold and cramped room in Pakistan, are relatives of one of its co-founders.
Born in eastern Afghanistan, Farouq Samim trained as a medical doctor, authored a guidebook for NATO forces and spent years working with international media. He came to Ottawa in 2009 on a scholarship and also helped train Canadian troops ahead of their deployment, teaching them about tribal politics and communication. After settling in the capital, he spent years working in health care.
Shortly after the Taliban takeover in August, 2021, Mr. Samim sought the help of Lewis Retik and Jacques Shore, partners with Gowling WLG in Ottawa, to get his sister and other close family members out of Kabul. Mr. Shore immediately approached federal government officials seeking immigration papers for Mr. Samim’s sister, who has a disability. Within days, a small group of concerned individuals assembled by the two lawyers raised funds for a plane to evacuate her and several hundred others. Operation Abraham was officially in motion.
Two years after Taliban takeover, many Afghans who helped Canada’s military remain in limbo
Since then, the non-profit, interfaith volunteer advocacy group has helped female judges, women’s rights activists, defence lawyers, a former Canadian embassy guard, members of Afghanistan’s national-security forces, journalists and many others who would face reprisals from the Taliban immigrate here.
But Mr. Samim’s nephew Muhabatullah, along with Muhabatullah’s wife, Nilofar, and their three young daughters are still in need of assistance. Muhabatullah’s father abandoned his children when they were young, Mr. Samim said. As their uncle, he stepped in to take care of them.
“I raised him as my own child,” Mr. Samim said of Muhabatullah, whose last name is also Samim. “I know how wonderful and how smart he is.”
The three brothers and their families were able to reach Pakistan with the help of Operation Abraham. From there, two of the brothers and their families made it to Canada. But not Muhabatullah.
Knowing his nephew is stuck in Pakistan and could be deported back to Afghanistan is taking a toll on Mr. Samim.
Mr. Samim's nephew and niece, Nilofar and Muhabatullah Samim, and their three children in Pakistan. Farouq Samim has helped dozens of Afghans reach Canada over the past two years – but the one final family tied up in bureaucracy is his own.Supplied
The siblings are known to the Taliban because of their military service, he said. Muhabatullah was a prosecutor with the armed forces. One brother led the computer science department at the National Military Academy of Afghanistan and the other was an administrative assistant to the chief of staff of the Afghan army.
“They have come here to Canada because of the grave danger that existed for these three army brothers in Kabul. Their house was raided five times, but nobody understands their situation,” Mr. Samim said. “This is really overwhelming.”
After the Taliban’s sweep to power in 2021, the Liberal government promised to welcome thousands of Afghans, including those who had assisted Ottawa’s military and diplomatic mission in the country, plus people who were particularly vulnerable to persecution.
Afghan couple waiting to resettle in Canada hiding from Taliban after being deported from Pakistan
Operation Abraham prepared a list for Canada’s immigration department of roughly 100 Afghans who needed protection. More than 130 have arrived here with their help, through its humanitarian program. (Almost 44,000 Afghan refugees have arrived in Canada since August, 2021.) Operation Abraham has also helped hundreds of Afghans reach safety in other countries.
Meanwhile, as they wait in Pakistan, Muhabatullah and his family have completed their biometric and medical tests, required steps before onward travel to Canada. But still, their application is stuck. Mr. Samim said he and Mr. Shore have been told by government officials that security screening is taking longer because of Muhabatullah’s military background.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said it is unable to provide information on specific cases or individuals. Spokesperson Matthew Krupovich said the department sympathizes with the people in this extremely difficult situation as it continues to process applications as quickly as possible. Processing times vary and each step along the way can bring a challenge, he added.
Mr. Shore said he is grateful for the government’s collaboration in helping Afghans on their list reach Canada – but is astonished they can’t get the Samims here, as every day puts them in greater danger.
“I’m afraid we could lose this last family and that’s what’s keeping me up at night. Here we have a chance to save a family,” Mr. Shore said.
“Operation Abraham’s success or failure depends on this last family regardless of everything we’ve done to date.”
Nilofar Samim is a former teacher and human rights defender who was working with the womens rights commission. Her husband was in the Afghan Air Force and they faced direct threats from the Taliban after they took over last year.Saiyna Bashir/The Globe and Mail
In October, Pakistan ordered all unregistered foreign nationals to leave the country by Nov. 1. Mr. Samim’s family is terrified of being forced to return to Afghanistan as the Canadian government drags its heels and Pakistani officials crack down and scale up deportations.
Muhabatullah told The Globe it’s been a “tough, tough life” in Islamabad. “It seems like mental and physical torture every day. But we just carry on with the hope that one day we will be able to come to Canada.”
Since arriving in Pakistan, they have lived in misery, he said, and now they feel like prisoners because if they go out, they risk being discovered by authorities. It’s been particularly difficult on their three girls, who are 5, 4 and 2. “They don’t have a place to play, they can’t go outside, they miss home and desperately want to go to school, eat well, go to a park.”
Nilofar Samim said their eldest keeps asking why they left Afghanistan, and why her parents told her they were going to Canada when that hasn’t happened.
“And it’s becoming very cold, even in Pakistan. We do not have a lot to keep our place warm for the children,” she said.
For Nilofar, whose work as a women’s rights activist also puts her at risk, the unknown future is the scariest part.
“One day, we will be deported to Afghanistan. What will happen? Certain death is waiting for my husband and I. What will happen to my three girls? Every night I go to sleep these thoughts come to mind and I cannot go to sleep for long because I don’t know what is waiting for us.”
Mr. Samim speaks regularly with his relatives to make sure they’re safe and advises them to avoid leaving their home unless they need groceries or medicine. He’s explained to them that the bureaucracy is taking its time. And he talks to the little girls, he said, who ask him: “Are we coming to Canada? We are so bored here. Why are we here so long?”
“My answer to them is, ‘Yes, my children, God willing, you will come to Canada.’ ”