After hiding in Kabul, Afghanistan for three months and spending another nine months in Pakistan, Ahmad Fahim Ahmadi has been on Canadian soil since Oct. 5.
“I just came at Calgary (International) Airport and just felt paradise,” Ahmadi said.
In Afghanistan, Ahmadi worked for the United States army and NATO forces.
Once the Taliban took control of the country he, like others, left in fear of his safety.
“I was feeling this is the time the Taliban will catch me and kill me, because I used to work for ‘infidels,’ according to what the Taliban believe,” Ahmadi said.
“Before I came here I never had peace and I never lived in peace,” said Nazifa Haidari, who also arrived in Canada in early October.
“I was always threatened, my life was always in danger because I used to be a journalist.”
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Ahmadi and Haidari are two of the 44 Afghan refugees Lethbridge Family Services (LFS) is helping resettle in the city.
According to officials, it’s a process that will take months.
“We will be working with them for a very long period of time, dealing with everything regarding settlement,” said Mirna Dleikan, a settlement practitioner in LFS’s immigrant services department.
“(That) encompasses short-term goals and long-term goals like moving into homes, getting education.”
“The Canadians are so welcoming and were there to support us, so I feel safe,” Haidari said.
While the newcomers are grateful to be in Lethbridge, they remain concerned for their country and the family members they’ve left behind.
“I am here in peace, in a good place, but still my thoughts are will my family back in Afghanistan,” said Ahmadi, who’s mother and little sister remain in the country. “I hope I can bring them in the future.”
“I’m going to continue on with my fight, as an activist and as a journalist, for what I used to fight for, the Afghan women and the Hazara community,” Haidari said.
LFS expects 74 more refugees from around the world will need resettling in Lethbridge in the future.
The group is asking for monetary donations and rental spaces to help with the process.
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