Name: Ali Khan Qassemi

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, good English skills, experienced in tile and stone masonry.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

Needed: Funding for his first year in Canada. SUPPORT THE FUNDRAISER HERE.

After Ali Khan’s father was killed by Pashtun nomads who were with the Taliban and wanted to take over his land, Ali Khan and his mother were also at great risk of being captured and killed by the Taliban. They both escaped to Quetta, Pakistan to save their life, but the situation in Pakistan was also unsafe for Hazaras.

Ali Khan’s mother sent him to Indonesia by boat in 2014 to be resettled in a safe country. However, he spent 43 months inside a detention centre in Indonesia.

His hope now is to find a group of friends who can bring him to Canada where he can study, work and live his life with freedom.

His Story

Ali Khan was born on January 2, 1996 in a village of the Ghazni province in Afghanistan.

The Hazara people of the region have long been targets of persecution and massacres because of their culture, religion, and love for education. The Pashtun nomads in Ali Khan’s village were members of the Taliban and they had taken over Hazara’s lands many times.

Ali Khan’s father had land on which he used to do farming, and Ali Khan used to help his father.

One day in May 2013, Ali Khan and his father went to their land to irrigate wheat. When they arrived there, the livestock of Pashtun nomads was on their farm and the herders were just looking at them. Ali Khan’s father asked the herders to keep their livestock off his land, but the herders told Ali khan’s father that this was no more his land.

“The herders had guns and when they started fighting, I left the area and ran towards the farmers who were working there too.”

Suddenly, Ali Khan heard gun fires, and after the farmers returned from there, they told him that his father and two herders had been killed. The farmers also told Ali Khan to go back to his village and ask the elders of the village for help, or else, he would be killed by the herders and the Taliban.

Leaving Everything Behind

After Ali Khan told everything to the elders of the village, they told him to leave the village with his mother immediately to save their life.

“My mother and I were very scared. We left everything behind and fled to Quetta, Pakistan by land.”

Ali Khan and his mother were living in Quetta without legal documents, and he was at the risk of being deported back to Afghanistan. On the other hand, the number of attacks on the Hazara people in Quetta, Pakistan was increasing. Ali Khan’s mother told him to go to a safe place because she did not want to lose him like his father.

After he arranged for a people smuggler, Ali Khan flew from Karachi to Thailand on November 6, 2014. On that same day, he flew to Malaysia where he stayed for 2 days. He arrived in Indonesia by boat in November 2014.

Life in Indonesia

After arriving in Jakarta, he registered himself at the UNHCR office on November 12, 2014. With no right to work or way to support himself in the new country, Ali Khan went to Balikpapan Immigration Centre to ask for assistance. He was then transferred to a detention centre there in December 2014. While living there, he spent his time learning English and playing volleyball and football to stay healthy.

After spending 43 months inside the detention centre, Ali Khan was freed and transferred to a community house on May 25, 2018.

The Only Way

Ali Khan has been deprived of his basic human rights in Indonesia. As a refugee, he cannot work, study, drive and travel to another city. He has no choice to return to Afghanistan as well. On the other hand, he is now a Christian and that puts him in more danger in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The only way for him to live his life again is to resettle in a country like Canada.

As a UNHCR refugee, Ali Khan is eligible for Canada’s private sponsorship program. He has two friends in Canada. One of them is Atousa Noei. They both are trying to find three more friends to join Ali Khan’s sponsor team.

SUPPORT ALI'S FUNDRAISER HERE

You can also reach out to Ali Khan directly on Facebook.

Or contact Atousa, who is leading Ali's sponsor team in Toronto.

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

Thank you for your support. And help spread the word by sharing this post!