Video shows Canadian troops ignoring Afghans standing in sewage canal

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They’re standing in raw sewage, waving their documents and being ignored by seemingly indifferent Canadian troops.

Video obtained Tuesday by the Toronto Sun showed what appears to be desperate Afghan nationals — waving emails and facilitation letters from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada confirming visas and spots on Canadian rescue flights — standing in an open sewage canal trying to get the soldiers’ attention.

The situation — which has been unfolding since Sunday, sources said — has all but extinguished any confidence Canada’s allies in Afghanistan had in our country’s long-standing promises of safety in exchange for their assistance during Canada’s 14-year mission.

“We lost our hope when they ignored us,” said the man who recorded the encounter, whose identity the Sun has agreed to conceal due to safety concerns.

“We thought they are just showing themselves to the world that they were helping us here, but the reality is that no one cares about Afghans.”

The video depicts Afghan citizens — allegedly embassy workers, interpreters and contractors at Canadian Armed Forces installations in Kabul and Kandahar — standing in a sewage canal that runs along the eastern perimeter of Kabul’s airport.

“We are telling them, ‘Here is our visas.’ We have documents. We have visas. Nobody is talking to us,” the man who shot the video says in a narration.

“We are waiting here since morning, from 6 a.m. until now. The Canadian Forces, they are not looking at our visas, they are not talking to us.”

Soldiers stand on the opposite bank, some appearing to wear Canadian flags on their uniforms.

Another source told the Sun that U.S. and U.K. troops were also posted along the berm, encouraging their allies to approach them through the open sewer, where they’d be pulled up on to the other side.

As the Taliban’s evacuation deadline approaches, the situation for those who Canada promised to evacuate grows even more dire.

“Since the Taliban came to the city, more than 10 guys have been taken from their homes in the middle of the night, never to be seen again,” the man who supplied the videos said.

“Taliban are knocking door to door, looking for those guys who worked for the coalition forces in my town, Kandahar.”

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A statement from the Canadian Forces in response to the Sun’s inquiries acknowledged the desperate situation, adding that all members on the ground have a role to play.

“Those assigned to conduct security can only conduct security while on duty — they are not able to engage,” the statement said.

“At the same time, there are other Canadian Armed Forces members continuing to engage people, identify them and bring them through the gates for onward processing.”

The spokesman didn’t confirm if the soldiers in the video were Canadian, but didn’t deny it either.

Canadian Armed Forces teams have lists of “vetted and vulnerable individuals” and are working to get them onto flights, the spokesman said.

“Further details of the process cannot be disclosed for security reasons.”