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By Genevieve Beauchemin and Brooklyn Neustaeter, CTV News
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MONTREAL, Quebec / TORONTO, Ontario (CTV Network) – An Afghan interpreter reunited with her family in Canada after being able to board one of the last evacuation flights from Kabul.
Maryam Sahar told CTV National News that she has feared over the past decade that she will never see her brothers and mother again.
However, the family of the former interpreter were among those who were able to flee to Canada in August. The family recently threw a backyard party to finally celebrate their reunion.
“I was a little scared of how the reunion was going to go, but they turned out to be really, really nice men,” Sahar said of his brothers in an interview with CTV News.
Sahar served as an interpreter in Kandahar after being hired by now retired Canadian soldier Charlotte Greenall.
Sahar was only 15 when she joined the mission in Afghanistan and was the only local female interpreter for the Canadian Armed Forces. She ignored threats from the Taliban for helping Canada in the hope of bringing peace to her country.
She fled to Canada for a new life in 2011 after one of her brothers, Omer Sahar, was kidnapped, drugged and tortured by the Taliban for escorting her to the base.
“He had the scars. He was 12 when the Taliban took him away, ”Sahar said.
Months before the Taliban returned to power in August, Sahar and Greenall had pleaded with Ottawa to help save Sahar’s family and those of others who participated in the war effort.
After many sleepless nights, Sahar’s two brothers and mother were able to board the last rescue flight from Kabul before the airport closed.
Sahar previously told CTV News that a bureaucratic obstacle at the airport nearly derailed their escape, with a visa problem threatening to leave behind his 12-year-old brother, Ibrahim Sahar. Finally, the family was able to embark together.
Escaping the Taliban turned out to be a difficult journey and their family reunion was moving.
“I love her, I love the way she is. I loved her as she was ten years ago, and I love her as she is and very proud of her, ”Omer said of her sister.
Despite the happy reunion, the family knows there are still obstacles ahead.
“Being a refugee is like being a child again, you have to relearn everything,” Sahar said.
Now in Canada, the family hopes that Omer can complete his studies to become a software engineer, and Ibrahim can also attend university in the future.
Despite all the challenges the family may face, Greenall, whom Sahar now affectionately calls “mum,” said she was there to help them.
“We will treat them like our own children and we will bring them into our lives. They might as well be the Greenalls with the Sahars, because we will be one happy family, that’s what will happen, ”she said.
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