Name: Ali Yawar

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, excellent English skills, volunteer English and Mathematics teacher, interpreter, novelist and nature photographer, FULLY FUNDED.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

After a Taliban Commander killed Ali Yawar’s uncle and injured his father to take over their land and properties, his family fled to Quetta, Pakistan to save their lives. Unfortunately, Ali Yawar did not have legal status in the country, and he could not find work to support his family. He then migrated to Indonesia by boat in 2013.

Since then, he has been living without his basic human rights. While living in the state of limbo, he has been volunteering as a teacher and interpreter. His hope now is to find a group of five Canadian friends who can help him start a new life in Canada.

Family Background

Ali Yawar was born in 1997 in Malistan district in Ghazni province in Afghanistan. He had a happy family and they had a great deal of fertile agricultural land and properties in the area.

The Hazara people of the region have long been targets of persecution and massacres because of their culture, religion, and love for education. Ali Yawar’s family made a lot of money annually from their agricultural land and properties. In the year 2000, a Taliban Commander claimed his family's land and properties. His family was threatened by the Taliban to leave their properties to that Taliban Commander, but Ali Yawar’s father refused.

Attacked

One day, Ali yawar’s father and uncle were working on the farm when some members of the Taliban opened fire on them. Unfortunately, his uncle was shot and got killed. His father got injured and he escaped to save his life. After the incident, the Taliban Commander again threatened them to leave their land or they all would be killed.

His father then moved his family to Quetta, Pakistan to live peacefully. After a few months, Ali Yawar’s elder brother went to Iran illegally to find a job to support his family, but he disappeared and no one heard of him.

“My father always advised every member of the family not to return to Afghanistan or we would be killed.”

Leaving Home

Ali Yawar’s father died due to a heart attack in 2008. His mother also died in 2009, and afterward, he lived with his elder sister. Due to not having legal status to stay in Pakistan, Ali Yawar was at risk of being deported to Afghanistan. He knew that he would be caught and killed by the Taliban if he returned to Afghanistan. On the other hand, the Hazara people were not safe in Pakistan since they have been targets of persecution and massacre by a terrorist group called Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Ali Yawar decided to find a safe country. His sister and brother-in-law helped him arrange for a people smuggler who could take Ali Yawar to Indonesia. On May 04, 2013, he flew from Quetta to Islamabad. From there, he went to Colombo, Sri Lanka by plane. He then went to Malaysia by plane and then on to Indonesia by boat on June 05, 2013. 

Life in Indonesia

After arriving in Jakarta, he registered himself with the UNHCR on August 03, 2013. With no right to work or way to support himself in the new country, he went to the CWS (Church World Service) office to ask for assistance. In February 2014, he was moved to a CWS – Adolescent Shelter for Refugees. In January 2015, when he turned 18, he was transferred to a hotel in Pekanbaru where he stayed for 3 months. He was then transferred to Jakarta. Later on, he moved to Cisarua, Bogor, and since then, he has been living there. As a refugee, Ali Yawar cannot work, get proper education, drive and even open a bank account. Despite facing such restrictions, he has been a volunteer English, Math and Indonesian language teacher. Also, he has been practicing photography and writing novels in Dari – Persian.

The Good News

Since 2000, no one had heard of Ali Yawar’s elder brother who got disappeared on the way to Iran. Ali Yawar always searched for his brother on social media platforms. Finally, in 2016, a miracle happened. He found his brother who had been living in Iran and had a wife and 4 children. Ali Yawar’s brother told him on the phone that he and his family did not have legal status to stay in Iran, and they were at risk of being deported to Afghanistan.   

“I was so glad that my brother was alive, but I started worrying about him and his family because they had nowhere to go.”

On November 17, 2018, the Iranian Government deported his brother and his family to Afghanistan. Thinking that they would not be recognized after so many years, they returned to their hometown Malistan. Unfortunately, they got recognized and chased by the Taliban spies in the area, and on November 22, 2018, the Taliban attacked their home and killed Ali Yawar’s two young nephews. His brother fled with the rest family to a neighboring district Jaghori. But after a few weeks, that district also fell into the Taliban's hands, and his brother fled to Quetta, Pakistan with his family. Due to not having legal documents in Pakistan, they are still at risk of being deported to Afghanistan.

His Dreams

Ali Yawar’s dream is to become a famous nature photographer and a well-known novelist one day. He wants to write about the pain and suffering of the deprived women in Afghanistan. As a refugee, he cannot fulfill his dreams. He says:

“I dream of going to Canada, a country where there is peace and freedom, where people are valued and given the right to reach their full potential, where women are allowed to be educated. I dream of being resettled in Canada where I can work and contribute to the economy of the country. A country I can be proud of to call my own.”

It is possible for Ali Yawar to resettle in Canada where he can live with freedom and contribute to society. 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. Another good thing about him is that he is FULLY FUNDED.

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 Ali Yawar directly on Facebook – or by email: alikasheef92@gmail.com – or through WhatsApp: +62 896-8555-5880.

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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