Afghanistan crisis: ‘Almost impossible’ to evacuate as many Afghans as Canada wants, says PM Justin Trudeau

"To get many people out, as many as we want, is going to be almost impossible in the coming weeks," Trudeau told reporters, “the situation on the ground is extremely complex, extremely difficult.”

File Photo (Credits: Reuters)

New Delhi: As Canada sends its first rescue aircraft to Afghanistan, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday (August 19, 2021) said that it’s “almost impossible” to evacuate as many people as his government wants to.

The statement comes as the Canadian Armed Forces assets and personnel have arrived on the ground at the Kabul airport, and two C-17 planes will be making regular flights in and out of Kabul for as long as possible. However, Trudeau said the Taliban were still blocking access to the airport.

"To get many people out, as many as we want, is going to be almost impossible in the coming weeks," Trudeau told reporters. "Our focus is to get as many people out as quickly as possible," he added. “The situation on the ground is extremely complex, extremely difficult.”

According to the reports, Canada, under a special immigration programme, is targeting to bring in 20,000 refugees from Afghanistan. But Canadian PM stated that those figures don’t appear to be attainable at this time.

“Unless the Taliban shift their posture significantly, which is something the international community and Canada are working on, it is going to be very, very difficult to get many people out,” he said.

Trudeau also added that the focus of his government is towards rescuing Afghans, including Hindu and Sikh minorities, women, human rights activists and those from the LGBTQ community.

Meanwhile, many other nations have been evacuating their citizens and taking Afghans as refugees on humanitarian grounds. An Indian air force plane too evacuated over 170 people from Kabul on Tuesday, including India`s ambassador to Afghanistan.

(With Reuters inputs)