Atiq fled Afghanistan shortly before the Taliban took control of Kabul. He went to Turkey, where he is now living in a basement without any status, working in a bakery and facing the risk of deportation every day.
“I feel like I’m in jail, scared to go out of my one room beyond work. I’m just counting the days until I can come to Canada. I’m getting depressed,” he said with the aid of a translator.
CBC agreed to only use Atiq’s first name to protect his safety. He said if he tried to obtain refugee status in Turkey, he would be caught and deported