This petition calls on the federal government to speed up refugee and humanitarian applications for at-risk Afghans currently in Pakistan, protect them from deportation while their cases are reviewed, and increase Canada's processing capacity for Afghan refugee cases.

Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, Afghans who supported education, women’s rights, civil society, and community development face heightened risk of persecution because of their lawful and peaceful activities;

Additionally, Afghans who belong to an ethnic minority and/or who are not Sunni Muslims face a well-founded risk of persecution if returned to Afghanistan and are at risk in Afghanistan of arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, and other forms of serious mistreatment on account of their ethnicity and/or religion;

Many of these individuals and their families fled to Pakistan and are awaiting resettlement to Canada through humanitarian and refugee pathways;

Afghan refugees in Pakistan increasingly face detention, loss of legal status, and deportation to Afghanistan, where they may face retaliation or imprisonment; and

Canada has committed to protecting vulnerable Afghans.

We, the undersigned,citizens or residents of Canada, call upon theGovernment of Canadato: 1. Urgently expedite refugee and humanitarian applications for at-risk Afghans in Pakistan; 2. Implement temporary protection measures to prevent deportation while applications are under review; and 3. Increase processing capacity for Afghan cases in Pakistan to reduce dangerous delays.