BACKGROUND

UNESCO Archivist and fellow Canadian, Eng Sengsavang, has been tirelessly advocating for this family since first receiving his email asking for help last August. She could not publish any information about the archivist or his family on the Go Fund Me page because it goes against Canadian sponsorship rules, however, she invited me to share the following information with you:

"Eshaq Yaqubi is an archivist with 7 years of experience in archival restoration and conservation in various departments of the former Afghan government, including the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Culture and Information, the National Archives, and the Presidential Palace Archives. He has been featured in the Kabul Times and Tolo News for his work on major digitization projects digitizing historical manuscripts, documents, and films at both the Afghanistan National Archives and the Presidential Palace Archives. He and his family are members of the historically persecuted Hazara ethnic and Shiite religious minority groups."

On behalf of the ACA Board of Directors, I want to ask you to please consider contributing to a GO FUND ME campaign for a fellow archivist who, along with his family, had to flee from Kabul out of fear for their lives after the Taliban takeover of August 2021. For the past year, this family has been living in a “humanitarian village” desperately trying to obtain refugee status and entry into a country of asylum so they could finally rebuild their lives and find peace again. Unfortunately, the Kafkaesque bureaucratic environment of their current ‘host’ country has so far prevented them from obtaining refugee status which has dramatically hindered their emigration efforts. Thankfully the Canadian Government’s new, year long immigration program allows Afghan refugees to apply for Canadian residency through the Canadian Group of 5 Sponsorship Program even if they do not have UNHCR refugee status. This is a rare opportunity that provides hope for this desperate family. However, there are still program conditions and only the first 3,000 applicants will be accepted AND there is still the $50,000 fund required to be in place to support this family upon entry.

This is where we need your help.

I know times are financially tough, but anything you can contribute will truly help this young family find peace and healing within a country with freedoms we so often take for granted. Let’s welcome our colleague into the Canadian archival fold and support the healing and flourishing of him and his family.

GO FUND ME CAMPAIGN link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/urgent-campaign-for-an-afghan-refugee-family

Thank you so much for your consideration!

Yours in archival solidarity,

Erica Hernandez-Read

President
Association of Canadian Archivists
Suite 1912 – 130 Albert St.
Ottawa, ON, K1P 5G4
Email: acapresident at archivists dot ca
Web: http://archivists.ca

The ACA acknowledges that our offices, located in Ottawa, are on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.