Afghan professor camps outside Parliament in despair over children facing deportation

A man being identified as Mohammad protests on the front steps of Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 6, 2025.

A former Afghan professor who camped outside Parliament for weeks to raise the plight of his two eldest children facing deportation from Pakistan says he fears for their lives as they wait for the Immigration Department to assess their applications to join their family in Canada.

Mohammad sat outside the House of Commons for 23 days, including in the pouring rain, until earlier this month to try to speak to MPs about his daughter and son left behind in Pakistan.

The Globe and Mail is only using his middle name and not naming his children as they fear reprisals from the Taliban if the two are deported.

Mohammad fled to neighbouring Pakistan from Afghanistan after the Taliban