Afghan sisters detail experience fleeing to Canada

Months after the Taliban took over, Afghan’s are still seeking refuge in Canada with the situation back home growing worse by the day.

Those that do get out, land in cities across Canada, and Calgary is a main hub.

“Calgary has a strong Afghani community and fantastic services in place so people are talking to each other when they come here they land and the support they receive, and the connection they have in the community,” said Fariborz Birjandian, the CEO of the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society and Co-Chair of the National Afghan Operation.

WATCH: Nearly 200 Afghan refugees landed in Canada, and many of them will call Calgary home, with hundreds more possibly following in the months ahead.

The Canadian government committed to 40,000 refugees, 300 of them are already in Calgary including sisters Zulikha and Sarah Mowdodi.

“It was a good experience but also a bad experience because I have a baby,” explained Zulikha. “It was very hard for me to come from Afghanistan to Pakistan and Pakistan to here.”

The sisters, along with their parents, Zulikha’s husband and one-year-old baby, have been in Calgary for two months. They say the process to get here was challenging.

They first arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan and stayed in a hostel for a few months before getting on a flight to Calgary. Leaving behind their home and loved ones.

“We are worried about them, we are trying to come here. They are not good,” said Zulikha.

Zulikha’s husband’s parents and two younger sisters are still in Kabul. Sarah says they don’t think they can get them here, but hopefully to Pakistan.

“There might be some questions for some people because we are not doing well in the economy, COVID, all those things have happened but I think humanity never stops,” said Birjandian. “It speaks to the people in a time of tough times, still, we think about other people.”

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The sisters were really concerned about moving to Canada – not knowing how Calgarians would treat them. But they say they’re overwhelmed with how welcoming and helpful everyone has been.

Once they get settled, they plan to learn more English and continue their education.

Sarah was a midwife and Zulikha studied dentistry for seven years. She had one semester left but the Taliban took over and her transcripts are still at the school.

“I came as a refugee 35 years ago and I can definitely tell you the story when you come as a refugee you are basically nobody,” explained Birjandian. “Nobody knows you, you don’t know anybody, doesn’t matter who you are, you were a surgeon, you were a person of capacity so it’s up to the community to create a condition to make these people feel safe, to make them feel belonged.”

Those who welcome refugees to Canada say making everyone feel at home is going to be a country-wide effort that is going to take some time.

“No one organization over the next few years is going to be able to accommodate all of the needs of the coming refugees in this particular way so it’s going to take a whole city and a whole country of organizations aligned in the same direction,” said Kelly Ernst, the vice president of Vulnerable Populations at the Centre for Newcomers.