The Daily UbuntuThread 01 · Exile and Migration · September 6, 2026
Forty thousand promises kept, and a few still waiting
After the fall of Kabul in 2021, Canada promised to welcome 40,000 Afghans. The promise was kept, thanks to hundreds of communities, but worry for those left behind does not stop at the border.
1 · The scene
In a neighbourhood grocery store, a volunteer walks a boy of about ten to the checkout. She whispers to him: "Bonjour." He repeats it, too loudly, and the cashier bursts out laughing with him.
On the sidewalk, he tugs at her sleeve. "Tashakor," he says, placing his hand on his heart. She tries, gets it wrong, tries again. He corrects her with the seriousness of a teacher. That day, each of them left with one more word, and the feeling of having been expected.
Original vignette
2 · The documented case
The commitment to vulnerable Afghans
After the Taliban took Kabul in August 2021, Canada committed to welcoming at least 40,000 vulnerable Afghans: former interpreters and collaborators, women's rights defenders, journalists, members of persecuted minorities. On October 30, 2023, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced that the goal had been met, with the help of more than 180 host communities across the country.
According to the latest figures published by the department, about 55,000 Afghans had arrived by November 2024, including more than 15,000 former collaborators of Canada and their families. About 1,570 of them had settled in Quebec, notably in Sherbrooke, Montreal and Laval.
In Montreal, from August 2021, volunteers from Afghan-Canadian organizations pooled hours of translation and support. Because a country's promise is also kept in the details: a signed lease, a school registration, a neighbour who explains snow removal. And for many, part of the family is still waiting, elsewhere, for their turn to come.
3 · The voice
“With your mind occupied, you can't really work. You can't really eat.”
4 · The question
Is welcoming only opening the door, or also carrying together the worry for those left behind?
Sources
- Canada fulfills its commitment to welcome 40,000 vulnerable Afghans (IRCC, 2023, French version) www.canada.ca
- #WelcomeAfghans: key figures (IRCC, 2024, French version) www.canada.ca
- Afghan refugees in Montreal as Canada's rescue ends (CBC News Montreal, 2021) amp.cbc.ca
Every figure on this page links to a verifiable public source.
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