Name: Barat Ali Sultani

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, good English skills

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

When some members of the Taliban were checking cars on the way to Jaghori, Barat Ali, a Hazara taxi driver rescued one of his passengers who was a military man by escaping from the Taliban. After he was noticed by the Taliban, he had to flee his country.

He fled to Indonesia and became a detainee for 3 and a half years. Despite facing health problems, he tried his best to stay active. He kept exercising and attending English language classes. He hopes to find five Canadian friends who can sponsor him so that he can support his family and see his children after 7 years.

Childhood

Barat Ali Sultani was born in 1973 in a small village in the Jaghori district of Ghazni province in Afghanistan. His parents died when he was a child. As a child, he and his brother had to work on land for living. On the other side, he had his uncle's support as well.

Escaped but noticed

The Hazara people of the region have long been targets of persecution and massacres. The systemic discrimination has been a feature in Afghanistan throughout history and the ongoing genocide is still a cruel fact of life in this area

In 2012, he and his family immigrated to Iran where he started construction work to support his family. He was robbed by local gangs many times there. However, in March 2014 he was caught and arrested by the Iranian police for staying and working without documents.

After 4 days, he was deported to Herat, Afghanistan.

He bought a taxi and started working in the way of Jaghori to Ghazni which was not secure.

In September 2014, he took the passengers from Ghazni to Jaghori. When he arrived in Dasht-e-Qarabagh (a road which is called the death road for Hazara people), he saw some cars were stopped and were being checked by some members of the Taliban. Suddenly, one of his passengers, put a gun to his head. The passenger told him to take a U-turn and escape from the Taliban immediately, otherwise, they would kill him because he was a military officer.

“While trying to escape, members of the Taliban noticed us and started to chase us. I was very terrified, but fortunately, we succeeded in escaping from them.”

In the city of Ghazni, he directly parked his car in the garage of his friend and stayed there for 5 days. He learned from another Hazara driver that a day after the escape, some members of the Taliban were looking for him by holding the picture of his car's plate number.

On September 25, he took his way to Kabul and arrived there on the same day. he contacted a people smuggler who took 6500 US dollars for sending him to Indonesia.

In Indonesia

On October 6, 2014, he flew from Kabul to New Delhi, India, and stayed there for 4 days. On October 10, he flew to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and arrived there on October 11. After staying in a safe house for 3 days, he fled to Indonesia by boat and arrived in Medan on October 15, 2014. Then, he arrived in Jakarta on October 17, and was registered to the UNHCR office on October 21. During that time, he was staying in Bogor.

With no right to work or way to support himself in this new country, he made his way to Makassar's immigration office. He slept in the street for a long time. Finally, on January 21, 2015, he was transferred to Makassar Detention Centre.

He faced many problems in the detention centre. Being in an overcrowded place, he got scabies which wouldn't let him sleep at night.

“It was so depressing being far from my family, but I always tried my best to stay active. I exercised with other refugees and kept attending the English class inside the detention centre. But I couldn’t continue my class because of my skin problem.”

On March 13, 2017, he was interviewed by the UNHCR and received his refugee status after 6 months.

“It was a very happy day for me and I was very thankful for that.”

Waiting

Eventually, he received his freedom after 3 and a half years. Since then, he has been living in a community house in the city of Makassar. Barat Ali is still waiting to be helped in any way.

“When I left my family behind, my children were too young. I couldn’t see them growing up and I will never see them again if I don’t get resettled to a third country.”

An opportunity

As a UNHCR refugee, Barat Ali is eligible for Canada’s private sponsorship program. there is a way for him to support his family and live a life of freedom. All he needs is to be sponsored by a group of five Canadian friends.

“I desperately need kind people to take my hand and to rescue me.”

To help support Barat Ali as a sponsor, please contact Stephen Watt on Facebook.

You can also reach out to Barat Ali 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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