Afghans in Winnipeg worry about loved ones as Canadian military wraps up rescue mission

Baset Rahmani says his family was travelling in Afghanistan for the first time since leaving the country for Canada more than a decade ago when the resurgent Taliban took over the country.

Now, after Canada's military took its last flight of evacuees out of the Kabul airport, he doesn't know when he will see them again.

"I'm just shocked. I don't know what to do," he said.

"When I heard that I was like, I won't see my parents along with my other family members ... I'm not going to see them anymore. I'm probably not going to see them for a very long time."

As of Tuesday, Canada had airlifted more than 2,700 people out of Kabul, including Afghan refugees, Canadian citizens, permanent residents and other foreign nationals.

On Thursday, a notice from the Immigration Department said that operation was over and no more flights are planned.

Family stranded

Now, members of Winnipeg's Afghan community say they feel helpless to get their families out.

Another Winnipeg man, who only wanted to go by his first name, Hameid, due to safety concerns, says his family travelled to Afghanistan in July for a wedding.

As the situation became more unstable, they had attempted to fly out in mid-August, but their flights were cancelled.

Even though they have proper paperwork, in recent days Hameid says it was impossible for them to get through the chaotic, dangerous scene at the Kabul airport, where thousands of people were trying to escape the country.

He said his sister was even trampled on.

He's worried about all of his family, but especially his younger siblings.

"They're quite traumatized and scared to leave the house, which is very unsettling with me."

He says the Canadian government should have done more to make sure its citizens were able to get out safely. Given the situation, just telling them to get to the airport is not enough, he said.

"They just need to understand the simple fact that they just can't get through. You can't get through a door with men guarding it with guns."

At this point, Hameid says his family members aresafe, and still has hope that they can get back to Canada eventually.

Hameidsays his parents are worried about him and his younger brothers, who hestayed behindwith and are desperately waiting for their parents to comehome.

"You know, I sometimes go days without talking to them. It's a different kind of scare."

Rahmani, too, said his family is safe at the moment, but fears the unknown.

"I thought they would just go there, come back safely, and then...it's just it's very, very heartbreaking."

Ariana Yaftali, co-founder of the Afghan-Canadian Women's Organization, has been working with families in Winnipeg who are trying to sponsor their loved ones seeking to get out of the country after the resurgent Taliban took over Afghanistan.

"People here are worried. They don't sleep, they don't eat. They're constantly on their phones and social media to get connected with their families," said

The thousands of people left behind at the airport have Taliban targets on their backs, Yaftali said.

"They're going to harm them and they're going to persecute them just because they wanted to leave and they wanted to, you know, go with the international community," she said.

Yaftali has been in contact with a family of about 20 to 25 people who are stuck in Afghanistan, some of whom are Canadian citizens. Immigration officials have told them to take shelter in their homes until Canada can find a way to get them out.

Their only option is to try to make it to a safe third country like Pakistan or Iran, but getting to one of those countries is almost impossible with the Taliban controlling the borders, Yaftali said.

A former NATO advisor living in Winnipeg who spent a decade working in Afghanistan called the end of the rescue mission "very discouraging."

"Canadians, they feel abandoned by their government," said Zobair Deen, who has been working to get hundreds of friends and former colleagues out alive.

"There are voice messages of these Afghan-Canadian women who are screaming and they feel there's a sense of abandonment there."

Several groups working with refugees in Manitoba met on Tuesday to start planning for the potential arrival of Afghan refugees, arranging for housing and other supports.

A rally is planned for this Saturday at the Manitoba Legislature to call attention to the situation in Afghanistan, and the need for Canada's support.

The Immigration Department advises those with an application in progress to contact them by email or call +1-613-321-4243.