Seeking Security

Tanya, a naturalized Canadian citizen who lives in Ottawa, has been trying to get her entire family to Canada, or the US, for years.More recently, she has prioritized getting her father — whom she said worked as a subcontractor repairing equipment for the Canadian and American militaries — onto an evacuation flight to escape Taliban retaliation.Tanya, who asked The World not to use her last name to avoid endangering her family members, said that when her father didn't answer her call on Friday, she panicked.“I called my brother and said, ‘Is everything OK? Are you guys OK?’ And he said, ‘Yes, we were attacked yesterday.’ And that just shattered me, basically.”Armed men had come to the house, he told her — and her family members escaped by climbing over a wall and have now gone into hiding.Tanya sent her family’s documents to the Canadian government three weeks ago, after the government announced that Afghans looking to be evacuated should submit their information via email, but said she is still waiting to he