A former Canadian language and culture adviser who worked for NATO in Afghanistan filed a lawsuit in late July, claiming the government did not allow his family in Afghanistan to seek refuge in Canada.

This follows a lawsuit filed in May by two other former language and cultural advisors who served in the Canadian military, who also accuse the government of denying their families participation in programs to take Afghan refugees to Canada.

They all accuse the government of giving Ukrainians immigration benefits that were not given to Afghans who sought to evade the Taliban takeover in 2021.

Canada has allowed an unlimited number of Ukrainians and their family members to come to Canada on emergency visas for three years to work and study while escaping Russian invasion of their homeland.

“Ukrainians are granted many benefits that are not granted to foreigners from other countries, including other countries facing devastating wars and human rights abuses,” the NATO adviser said at the trial.

He cites Afghanistan, Yemen, Ethiopia, Somalia and Burma as examples. None of the former advisers are named in court documents due to the serious danger their families face in Afghanistan.

Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, Canada has so far taken in 175,729 Ukrainians. That’s more than four times the number of Afghans who have arrived in Canada as refugees since August 2021.

The government has not yet filed a defense against the Canadian advisers’ claims, but in a similar case before Canada’s Human Rights Tribunal, the government argued that unique crises require a unique response.

The Canadian Army has recruited around 45 Canadian nationals of Afghan origin to serve as language and cultural advisors while deployed in Afghanistan. They received higher security clearance and risked their lives to serve alongside the soldiers.

The former NATO adviser behind the lawsuit is among at least six Canadian nationals who worked as interpreters for the armed forces of Canada, the United States and other NATO member nations from 2007 to 2011.

In his court filing, he said his six siblings and their families were at significant risk of torture, death or injury because of their connections to him and the work he performed in Afghanistan.

You are not authorized to enter Canada. However, the lawsuit claims that if they were Ukrainian nationals, they would be welcome with an emergency visa.

After a group of language and culture advisers lodged a human rights complaint about the situation, the government reached a voluntary settlement and launched a special program in March specifically aimed at keeping their families safe.

However, the criteria for this program are restrictive and it is not open to all extended family members such as adult nieces and nephews. It also does not apply to people who have worked for NATO and not the Canadian military.

The government said at the time that the eligibility criteria had been set by “a range of stakeholders” but were not specific, saying only that the approach was “flexible and responsive”.