In Canada, the battle of the ballot box is seldom fought and won on the intricacies of the country’s role in international affairs— and the latest election was no different.

Despite the catastrophe in Afghanistan, which has direct consequences for Canada and the Western world, foreign policy was conspicuous by its absence in the platforms of all the political parties. And Canadians were understandably more concerned with vaccine passports than the activities of diplomatic passport holders.

In a land of immigrants and first-generation Canadians with personal ties to every corner of the world, politicians and the voting public have yet to wake up to the nexus of foreign and domestic policy. And there is little or no recognition among them that international religious freedom— a key component of the foreign policy of many of our allies— has domestic repercussions that impact Canadians in far-reaching ways.

“Not only has the return of the Taliban unleashed a new reign of terror, but with it, brought about one of the biggest refugee crises since World War II,” Ali Mirzad, Senior advisor to the Canadian Hazara Humanitarian Services (CHHS) told Convivium. “Now more than ever the persecuted vulnerable minorities of Afghanistan need Canada to step up. Failure to do so will result in another Rwanda-style situation in Afghanistan.”

Mirzad added that this preventable tragedy is affecting 30,000 Canadian Hazaras personally, and that NGOs such as CHHS are scrambling to raise money to resettle their friends and relatives.

Human rights expert Giorgio Mazzoli has informed the UN’s Human Rights Council that religiou...