Immigration and Refugee and Citizenship Canada denied him right to come in Canada after application inconsistencies and concerns he was ‘engaging in terrorism’ and now Federal Court judge reviewing case has backed that decision
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Five years after the Afghanistan war ended, an Afghan interpreter for the Canadian Armed Forces has been denied entry to Canada under the special immigration stream set up for those who helped troops during the war.
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Mohmand Jalal Zai, 39, applied to come to B.C. with his immediate family about a month before the U.S. pulled its troops out of Afghanistan in August 2021.
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Zai, who was an interpreter for Canada’s army for two years until January 2009, applied under the temporary program set up by Canada to resettle qualified Afghan nationals, according to Federal Court Justice John Norris.
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Applicants were exempted from several requirements to be considered to enter Canada but they still had to satisfy a Canadian immigration officer that they otherwise met other requirements under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, he said.
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That included whether or not he or his family members were “not inadmissible” to Canada, Norris wrote in a ruling.
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In April 2024, a Canadian immigration officer refused Zai’s application because he was “not satisfied that the applicant had answered truthfully all questions put to him.”
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The officer concluded Zai had failed to disclose his full employment history or that he had been detained in Kandahar for almost a year in 2013, Norris wrote.
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Zai’s request for a judicial review of the Immigration officer’s decision to deny him entry was based on a contention that it was unreasonable and procedurally unfair.
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But Norris ruled that Zai, who was represented by a Surrey lawyer, “had not established any basis for interfering with the officer’s decision.”
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At the end of the Afghanistan war, Canada faced criticism for not ensuring the safety of thousands of “friends of Canada,” such as interpreters and helpers stranded in the war-torn country and under direct threat of Taliban reprisal.
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Thousands were airlifted out, but many more were not.
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Zai and his family, after leaving Kandahar in July 2021, stayed in safe houses or in hiding until he made it to Islamabad, Pakistan, in February 2022, according to the decision.
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He filled out the initial application form in July 2021 and was called in to the High Commission of Canada in Islamabad for an interview in July 2022, Norris wrote.
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The Immigration officer pointed out on his first application form in July 2021, he answered no to the question if he or any family member had been jailed or detained, but on the updated 2024 form, he answered yes, Norris wrote.
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When asked to explain, he said on the form that someone provided “wrong info” to officials in Kandahar. He said he has been called in by authorities for an interview in 2013 and detained for a year. But he said he was found not guilty of anything so didn’t think he needed to disclose that, he said.
