Afghan family seeking refuge in Metro Vancouver facing homelessness

Afghans who were forced out of their homeland because of the Taliban are now facing homelessness in Metro Vancouver.

It's a growing problem in the region due to a lack of shelter space and affordable housing.

The situation has become so dire that some families end up sleeping outside, including Mohammed and his family, whose identities are being protected for their safety.

Mohammed, his wife and three young daughters left Afghanistan more than a year and a half ago, hopping from Iran to Brazil and the U.S.

They landed in Canada last month and hoped to stay with their relatives, who also recently landed in the country.

Despite coming to Metro Vancouver for a better life, Mohammed said his current situation is rough.

“Life isn’t good right now. I have a lot of challenges. I’m still waiting to hear back from the government. We have no place to live,” he told CTV News in Dari, one of the languages spoken in Afghanistan.

He said they have no documentation, except for their Afghan passports, and they’re currently in limbo with their paperwork.

Mohammed said he and his family have moved from one shelter to the next, traveling from Burnaby to Langley to Surrey, but the shelters often end up full and his family has had to resort to sleeping outside.

“We’re constantly seeking a place to stay. Some days we end up sleeping in a park, some nights we stay in someone’s home. It’s very challenging,” he said.

Mohammed is Hazara, which is an ethnic minority group in Afghanistan. Members are often persecuted, tortured and killed by the Taliban, according to Amnesty International.

He said he was being hunted by the fundamentalist group. Desperate to protect himself and his family, Mohammed fled his home.

“Hazaras are not safe under the Taliban rule. The Taliban will kill Hazaras and people who worked with the previous governments. They think of them like an enemy,” he said.

Mahmoud Mobaarez, a journalist from Afghanistan who now lives in Vancouver, said many Afghans have been forced to flee their homeland since the Taliban took over the country in 2021.

“A lot of people who are leaving the country … are hopeless, they’re frustrated, they have a lot of problems to deal with,” he told CTV News.

“And when they’re coming to a safe country, they’re expecting to have a life with dignity, but they’re ending up in a situation that they’re not expecting at all. It’s adding another layer of tension on them,” he continued.

Mobaarez said many Afghans are suffering in their country under the Taliban regime, dealing with a plethora of issues—including poverty, oppression and violence—and the last thing they want to worry about when seeking refuge in Canada is a safe space.