‘It’s death’: Former Afghan interpreter still fighting to get family to Canada

CALGARY — Death. That’s what awaits interpreters and their families that Canada did not get out of Afghanistan, according to one former interpreter for NATO and Canadian forces.

“We were telling them how to go, when to go, where to go, right? Based on that, Taliban were killed. And I’m sure they will come for us, and if not for us, for our families,” said Safiullah Mohammad Zahed.

One of his brothers was smuggled out of Afghanistan to Turkey – where he is still in hiding from Turkish police, without any paperwork.

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Former Afghan interpreter for Canadian military fears for family in Kabul

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“He said it’s been like three days ‘I haven’t eaten’, that’s what he told me, ‘because I cannot get any food over there, if I get caught by Turkish police, they will put me in a camp, but that would be similar to a jail or even worse than that.’

“My second brother, he has disappeared, but we haven’t heard anything from him, his wife doesn’t know, and she’s been crying,” he said.

Zahed spent the last few weeks emailing and calling the Canadian government. He says he didn’t get any contact back – not even a confirmation email.

And it has left him wondering if Canada was the right choice.

“I have friends in the U.S., their whole families are with them.

“I preferred to go to Canada and, again, I was expecting the Canadian government to bring our families in the first step.”

He even reached out to other governments he’d worked with as an interpreter.

“But everyone suggested ‘no, because you are in Canada, you are Canadian right now, so the best option is to talk to your Canadian government.’”

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Zahed says he, and his family, are the enemy in the eyes of the Taliban.

His father was already killed years ago, making the fight to get his brothers out even more emotional.

“I can’t stop thinking about those kinds of stuff, then I say I hope it doesn’t happen. My wife talks to me and she says everything will be alright, sometimes I scream at night and then she says ‘everything will be fine. Nothing will happen to them.’”

He doesn’t see the Canadian mission as a failure, as any evacuations are a success, but he isn’t satisfied with the result.

“Canada is looking more into paperwork, they see it as regular immigration, but I don’t think this situation is one of those things where you look at the paperwork.

“It makes us mad, disappointed, but at the same time we still have… there is still ten per cent hope.”