Canada to Take in 20,000 Afghan Refugees Targeted by Taliban

Afghan internally displaced families arrive in Kandahar as they flee battles between Taliban fighters and Afghan security forces on July 27, 2021 JAVED TANVEER AFP/File
Afghan internally displaced families arrive in Kandahar as they flee battles between Taliban fighters and Afghan security forces on July 27, 2021 JAVED TANVEER AFP/File
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Canada to Take in 20,000 Afghan Refugees Targeted by Taliban

Afghan internally displaced families arrive in Kandahar as they flee battles between Taliban fighters and Afghan security forces on July 27, 2021 JAVED TANVEER AFP/File
Afghan internally displaced families arrive in Kandahar as they flee battles between Taliban fighters and Afghan security forces on July 27, 2021 JAVED TANVEER AFP/File

Canada said Friday it will take in up to 20,000 Afghan refugees, including women leaders, government workers and others facing threats from the Taliban, as insurgents advanced across the country seizing major cities.

"The situation in Afghanistan is heartbreaking and Canada will not stand idly by," Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino told a news conference.

The refugees will include "particularly vulnerable" Afghans still in the country or who've already fled to neighboring states, which in addition to female leaders and government employees also comprises human rights defenders, persecuted minorities and journalists.

Several plane-loads of asylum seekers have already departed with the first one landing Friday in Toronto, Mendicino said.

As the Taliban advances on the capital Kabul, officials said Canadian special forces form part of a contingency plans to airlift Canadian embassy staff, but details were not provided due to the sensitive nature of the security operation.

Earlier Friday, many countries including Spain, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands announced the withdrawal of staff from their respective embassies.

Canada has said it is monitoring the situation in Afghanistan "very closely" and working with its allies on the ground.

"Protecting the Canadian Embassy and our staff is our top priority," said Foreign Minister Marc Garneau.

On Twitter, he said that Canada "owes Afghans a debt of gratitude and we will continue our efforts to bring them to safety."



India and Bangladesh Leaders Meet for First Time since Revolution

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus in Thailand. Bangladesh's Chief Advisor Office of Interim Government/AFP
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus in Thailand. Bangladesh's Chief Advisor Office of Interim Government/AFP
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India and Bangladesh Leaders Meet for First Time since Revolution

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus in Thailand. Bangladesh's Chief Advisor Office of Interim Government/AFP
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus in Thailand. Bangladesh's Chief Advisor Office of Interim Government/AFP

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Friday with the leader of neighboring Bangladesh, the first such meeting since a revolution in Dhaka ousted New Delhi's long-term ally and soured relations.

Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, 84, took charge of Bangladesh in August 2024 after India's old ally Sheikh Hasina was toppled as prime minister by a student-led uprising and fled by helicopter to India.

India was the biggest benefactor of Hasina's government, and her overthrow sent cross-border relations into a tailspin, culminating in Yunus choosing to make his first state visit last month to China -- India's biggest rival.

Tensions between India and Bangladesh have prompted a number of tit-for-tat barbs between senior figures from both governments.

New Delhi has in the past has repeatedly accused Muslim-majority Bangladesh of failing to adequately protect its minority Hindu citizens -- charges denied by the caretaker administration of Yunus.

On Friday, Yunus posted a picture on social media showing him shaking hands with Modi, and his press secretary Shafiqul Alam later said the "meeting was constructive, productive, and fruitful".

Their meeting took place on the sidelines of a regional summit in Thailand.

Yunus also shared a photograph of the two men smiling as he handed Modi a framed picture of themselves a decade ago -- when the Indian leader in 2015 honored the micro-finance pioneer with a gold medal for this work supporting the poorest of society.

There was no immediate statement from New Delhi.

Yunus, according to his press secretary, also raised with Modi the issue of Dhaka's long-running complaint at what it says are Hasina's incendiary remarks from exile.

Hasina, who remains in India, has defied extradition requests from Bangladesh to face charges including mass murder.

Dhaka has requested that India allow Hasina's extradition to face charges of crimes against humanity for the killing of hundreds of protesters during the unrest that toppled her government.

Yunus also raised concerns of border violence along the porous frontier with India, as well as issues of the shared river waters that flow from India, as the Ganges and the Brahmaputra wind towards the sea.

The caretaker government of Yunus is tasked with implementing democratic reforms ahead of fresh elections slated to take place by June 2026.

Modi and Yunus had dinner on Thursday night -- sitting next to each other alongside other leaders from the BIMSTEC bloc in Bangkok -- but the bilateral sit-down on Friday was the first since relations frayed between the neighboring nations.