LGBTQ Afghan refugees were among the 250 refugees who arrived in Canada last week. An unknown number of LGBTQ Afghans were aboard the first privately sponsored flight that arrived at Toronto's Pearson International Airport December 2.
The refugees are a part of Canada's Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program. The program has helped 330,000 refugees resettle in Canada since its founding in the late 1970s, according to a news release.
Nemat Sadat, a gay Afghan American journalist and human rights activist who has been helping LGBTQ Afghan refugees, said that none of the refugees were from his list, which has now grown to 725 people as of December.