Names: Azizullah Ebrahimi and his son Saleh Ebrahimi (15).

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia, his son Saleh has been living in Iran.

Advantages: UN-certified, excellent English skills, FULLY FUNDED.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

Azizullah grew up in Iran as a stateless person. He was 23 years old when he got arrested and deported to Afghanistan. It was the first time he saw Afghanistan that was too dangerous for him. Since the way back to Iran was too risky, he came to Indonesia by boat in 2014 to find a safe place.

Since then, he has been living in a state of limbo. Due to his uncertain future, his wife left him in 2022 and his son Saleh is living with Azizullah’s parents in Iran. It has been a decade since Azizullah has not met his son. His son was only 6 years old when Azizullah came to Indonesia and now, he is 15 years old. It is time for this father and his son to get reunited in a safe country like Canada where they can live happily and with freedom. They only need a group of five Canadian friends who can help them start a new life there.  

Early Life

Azizullah was born in January 1987, in Uruzgan province in Afghanistan. He was only 3 years old when the Taliban attacked his village and killed many Hazara innocents, and his family fled to Tehran, Iran illegally. Azizullah grew up in Iran as a stateless person where he and other Afghan refugees were being humiliated every day.

Despite having a refugee card issued by the government of Iran, Azizullah lived his 23 years in fear of being caught and deported to Afghanistan. He was not officially permitted to work there, so he used to pay some money to the local police and other officials in order not to get caught and deported to Afghanistan.

Deported to Afghanistan

During President Ahmadinejad's administration, Iran launched a major campaign to round up around 1 million illegal Afghan workers and bus them back to their war-ravaged homeland.

One day in 2013, Azizullah was arrested while traveling on a bus by Iranian police. When he showed them his refugee card, they shredded his card and started beating him on the face and his tummy. Later on, he was put in a camp where hundreds of Afghan refugees had been brought in order to be deported to Afghanistan.

“I begged them a lot to release me from the camp because I was a registered refugee with the Iranian government, but they did not care and even threatened me to be silent otherwise they would hit me again.”

First Time in Afghanistan

Azizullah’s family did not know about his situation and he could not find a way to inform them. Eventually, he got deported to Afghanistan in February 2013. It was the first time in his life he found himself in Afghanistan and away from his family. Since he was a child when his family fled to Iran, he did not know anyone there nor he had a place to stay. He finally contacted his parents and shared everything with them.

“My wife and son cried a lot. I was very worried and I just wanted to go back to Iran.”

Azizullah went to a restaurant where he found a people smuggler with the help of the restaurant’s waiter. When he told the people smuggler that he wanted to go to Iran, the people smuggler said that it was too dangerous to go to Iran illegally those days as the border police would start shooting illegal refugees without any hesitation.

The Journey

Azizullah knew that the people smuggler was right because various such incidents had already occurred before. The people smuggler suggested sending Azizullah to Indonesia and said that the UNHCR in Jakarta would provide shelter and send him to Australia. He did not have any other option either, because he had never lived in Afghanistan and as a Hazara, he was at risk of being captured and killed by the Taliban. After his travel documents were arranged by the people smuggler, he flew to New Delhi, India. From there, he went to Malaysia by plane and then on to Indonesia by boat in early 2013.

Life in the State of Limbo

After arriving in Jakarta, he registered himself with the UNHCR in March 2013 and started living in Cisarua, Bogor. In 2014, he was granted refugee status by the UNHCR and then his application for resettlement was sent to Australia. Unfortunately, due to new changes in policy by the Australian government, his claim for Australian Humanitarian Visa got refused in 2015. He then moved to West Jakarta in the same year. As a refugee, Azizullah cannot work, get proper education, drive and even open a bank account. It has been a decade since he has been living in a state of limbo. Due to his uncertain future, his wife left him and his son in 2022. Since then, his son has been living with Azizullah’s parents in Iran where his son cannot have a future. He says:

“My dream is to reunite with my son in a safe country where I can see him getting a proper education and living a life with freedom.”

The Only Way!

Recently, the UNHCR in Jakarta advised him that he would never be resettled to any country through UNHCR because he already has lost his chance. The private sponsorship is the only way for him to resettle in the third country where he can reunite with his son Saleh and live a peaceful life.

Since Azizullah is officially certified as a refugee by the UNHCR – unlike the vast majority of the world’s refugees – he and his son qualify for Canada’s private sponsorship program. All they need is to be sponsored by a group of five Canadian friends. They have full funding in place, so no fundraising is needed.

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

You can reach out to Azizullah directly on Facebook.

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

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