Afghan Canadian Robina Aryubwal and Journalists for Human Rights win prize for evacuating Afghan refugees

The prize recognizes a Canadian individual or organization that has provided significant help to a writer or journalist outside Canada who has faced threats, violence, harassment, or imprisonment for reporting or commenting on issues of public interest.

When the Taliban took over Kabul in August 2021, Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) immediately launched an emergency evacuation effort. In seven days, JHR's executive director Rachel Pulfer mobilized key donors and coalition members and raised $600,000 for its emergency evacuation fund. That fund would eventually grow to over $2 million.

To meet the urgent need for a liaison between JHR and Afghan refugees, Pulfer brought on Robina Aryubwal. Over the next three years, working closely with JHR staff, in particular domestic programs director Jordan MacInnis, Robina played a critical role in assisting Afghan refugees in their evacuation, resettlement and integration efforts.

Since 2021, JHR and its partner organizations have relocated, referred, and resettled more than 500 at-risk journalists, human rights defenders, fixers, interpreters, educators and their families from Afghanistan, many of them to Canada. Supports included travel assistance, accommodation, funds for food, information, counseling, access to legal advice, referrals and pathways.

"It was the best of humanity, working in a race against time to help as many people as possible, through a moment created by the worst of humanity," says Rachel Pulfer, Executive Director, JHR. "That this team, supported by a broad coalition of partners, relocated and resettled as many people as it did is frankly a miracle. Central to that success were two extraordinary women: Robina Aryubwal and Jordan MacInnis."

As a former Afghan refugee herself, Robina's work is informed by her lived experience. She grew up under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, where girls were not allowed to go to school. But she and her family established an underground school in their apartment. By age 14, Robina was giving lessons in English, often to women twice her age.

Following the Taliban's removal, Robina returned to high school. But death threats from warlords forced the family to flee to Pakistan and seek safety in Canada. After eight years of trying, the family made it to Canada, where Robina resumed her education and is now pursuing a master's degree at York University.

Robina brought this lived experience to her work with JHR. Her fluency in five languages and knowledge of the territory made her invaluable to the team, along with her deep and personal concern for the people who needed help.

"As JHR began to evacuate hundreds of families to Pakistan, Robina worked tirelessly to ensure that the evacuation effort was humane and efficient," says Jordan MacInnis, "that families' needs were met and that she was available to them should they need, regardless of the day or hour."

Working with Pulfer and MacInnis, Robina coordinated with international partners to gather data to help refer individuals to the Canadian government's humanitarian stream. She was in constant communication with those in exile in Pakistan, supporting them in innumerable ways: securing documentation, counseling, safe houses, or providing a comforting ear. She even organized field trips and excursions for the women and girls in order to keep their spirits up.

The award will be presented to JHR and Robina Aryubwal at a private ceremony hosted by PEN Canada in October.

PEN Canada is a nonpartisan organization that celebrates literature, defends freedom of expression, and assists writers in peril at home and abroad. The English-language Canadian centre was founded in 1983 and is proud to be one of over 130 centres of PEN International.

Established in 2022, the Marie-Ange Garrigue Prize is the second PEN Canada prize funded by Cynthia Wine and Philip Slayton — the first is the Ken Filkow Prize. Each is valued at $2,000. Winners of both prizes are selected by an external jury following a public call for nominations.