Name: Akbar Anwari

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, excellent English skills, volunteer English and Bahasa (Indonesia) teacher, Kung Fu Master.

Risk: At risk of being tortured and killed by the Taliban if returned home.

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

Akbar fled his home country due to the life threat he received from the Taliban. Unfortunately, in Indonesia, he is unable to secure a job, get a proper education, or even travel to another place. Thus, he has been stuck in a state of limbo.

Despite the challenges and the restrictions that he is constantly facing, Akbar continues to make a huge impact on his refugee fellows’ lives with his language classes and Kung Fu sessions. Akbar is a Kung Fu trainer and an English and Bahasa (Indonesia) volunteer teacher and he is making good use of his skills at the moment.

Language is sometimes neglected when helping refugees, yet Akbar believes that people around him can benefit from his lessons and learn a new language that helps them in many areas like studying and working.

Being threatened and facing hardships, Akbar dreams of resettling in a country where he finds freedom and contributes to society in safer conditions. He now needs a group of five Canadian friends who can help him start a life in Canada.

Early Life

Akbar Anwari was born in January 1999 in Helmand Province in Afghanistan. Due to the persecution by the Taliban, his family had to leave their district and move to Lashkargah, the capital city of Helmand province. 

The Hazara people of the region have been targets of persecution and massacres for so long because of their culture, religion, and love for education.

Akbar’s brother used to work with foreigners as an English interpreter. Unfortunately, the Taliban learned about his brother’s activity and they sent a threatening letter to his family in 2015, but they could not do anything about that letter. 

Beaten and Tortured

Akbar was in 7th grade at school. One day in September 2015, he was returning home from school when some unknown people put a black cloth on his head and pushed him inside a car. It took about 6 hours until Akbar was brought inside a room where members of the Taliban kept interrogating him.

“They kept beating me and calling me an infidel because of my brother’s work with foreigners.”

The next day, he was about to be moved somewhere else. The Taliban left him without food and gave him water only. Most of the time, he was unconscious due to hunger. When he woke up, he found himself inside a truck filled with livestock. His hands and feet were tied up. He found a piece of iron fitted inside the truck and started cutting the ropes around his hands. While struggling to get rid of the ropes, he hurt his hand and those scars can be noticed today.

“I knew that I would be killed by the Taliban, so after untying myself, I jumped off the truck and hid behind a small hill.”

Leaving Home

Later on, Akbar was helped by a driver who hid him in the car’s trunk and dropped him in Kandahar. After arriving there, he contacted his father and told him what happened with him. His father insisted that Akbar should not return home amid this situation.

“My father told me to go to Kabul and find a way to leave the country as soon as possible. The last thing he told me was that my brother had disappeared.”

After receiving some money from his father, Akbar went to Kabul, where he arranged for a people smuggler, and in October 2015, he flew to New Delhi, India. From there, he went to Malaysia and then to Indonesia by plane in October 2015.

Life in Indonesia

After arriving in Jakarta, Akbar registered himself with the UNHCR on November 04, 2015, and started living in Cisarua, Bogor.

Despite facing restrictions like, not being allowed to work, get proper education and even open a bank account, Akbar has been doing his best to help his refugee fellows as a volunteer English and Bahasa (Indonesia) teacher at RLC (Refugee Learning Centre). Also, he has been teaching basic computer skills at JRS (Jesuit Refugee Service). He says:

“When I arrived in the new country (Indonesia), I faced many new challenges due to the language barrier. I struggled and learned Bahasa Indonesia, and now, I am happy to help my refugee fellows in learning Bahasa and English.”

His Dreams

Akbar is multitalented. He is a Kung Fu Master too. He has been teaching Kung Fu Full Contact with the help of JRS (Jesuit Refugee Centre). His dream is to resettle in a country where he can live without hindrance or restraint, support his family and contribute to society.

It is possible! Since he is officially certified as a refugee by the UNHCR – unlike the vast majority of the world’s refugees – he qualifies for Canada’s private sponsorship program.

If you would like to sponsor him – or if you’re just interested in helping to bring him here – please contact his friend Stephen Watt on Facebook.

You can reach out to Akbar Anwari directly on Facebook.

Reach out and discover how wonderful it is to privately sponsor a good person to start a new life – with your help – in Canada!

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