Esmatullah Ahmadi, a Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, fled persecution by the Taliban after being falsely accused of collaboration with the government. Unable to work or support himself in Indonesia since 2014, he dreams of reuniting with his wife Arifa and their three daughters, who face severe restrictions under the Taliban rule.

Despite being an experienced driver, farmer, and constructor, he has been stuck in limbo since 2014. His hope now is to find a group of five Canadian friends who can bring him to Canada where he can reunite with his family and live with freedom.

Names: Esmatullah Ahmadi, Arifa Hakimi, their daughters, Atifa (15), Mahdia (13) and Zahra (10).

Profile: Esmatullah is a Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia and his family is living in Afghanistan.

Advantages: Esmatullah is an UN-certified, experienced driver, farmer, constructor and car mechanic.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

Early Life

Esmatullah was born in January 1986, in the Jaghori district in 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. Esmatullah was a taxi driver. He used to work on the way from Jaghori to Ghazni to support his family.

Taken and Tortured

On August 16, 2014, Esmatullah was bringing passengers from Ghazni to Jaghori. One of his villagers Azizullah had told him to bring four cartons from Ghazni to Jaghori, so he had placed those cartons in his car trunk.   

Upon arriving at the place named Dasht-e-Qarabagh, some armed members of the Taliban intercepted Esmatullah’s taxi and started searching the car and his passengers. The members of the Taliban found some governmental documents in Azizullah’s cartons. 

Those documents belonged to the head of the Rural Development Council. Esmatullah kept saying that the documents belonged to his villager, but the Taliban did not believe him and they accused him of working with the governmental institution.

“They took me to an unknown place where they put me inside a room and kept beating and torturing me.”

The Taliban kept calling him infidels and they said that they would kill him soon.

Escaping Persecution 

Knowing that he would be killed by the Taliban, he started looking for a chance to escape from there. At that night’s praying time, Esmatullah noticed that the members of the Taliban had gone to pray. He then broke the window of that room, got out of there, and started running away.

A few hours later, he reached a highway and then went to Kabul by car.

After arriving in Kabul, he stayed at a hotel where he contacted his father and told him what had happened. His father told him to leave the country immediately or he would be captured and killed by the Taliban.

Journey to Indonesia 

With the help of the hotel owner, Esmatullah arranged for a people smuggler, and after a few days in August 2014, he flew from Kabul to New Delhi, India. From there, he went to Singapore and then on to Jakarta, Indonesia by plane on August 29, 2014.

Life in Indonesia

On September 01, 2014, Esmatullah registered himself with the UNHCR in Jakarta. Due to not having the right to work or a way to support himself in the new country, he went to Manado Immigration Centre to ask for assistance. On August 08, 2015, he was transferred to a detention centre in Manado. After more than 2 and a half years of being detained, Esmatullah was finally freed and transferred to a community house in Tanjung Pinang on February 22, 2018. Since then, he has been living there.

Struggling as a Refugee

As a refugee, Esmatullah has been deprived of his basic human rights. He cannot work, get a proper education, drive and travel to another city. On the other hand, he has been very worried for his wife Arifa and their 3 daughters who are living in Afghanistan. After the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, women cannot go outside without their men. Esmatullah says:

“My family needs me now and I am stuck here in Indonesia. As a husband and a father, my dream is to resettle in a safe country where I can reunite with my family whom I have been far from for a decade.”

Hope for Reunion

There is a way for Esmatullah to reunite with his family in a beautiful country like Canada where they can live a peaceful life with freedom.

Since Esmatullah is officially certified as a refugee by the UNHCR – unlike the vast majority of the world’s refugees – he and his family qualify for Canada’s private sponsorship program.

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

You can reach out to Esmatullah Ahmadi directly on Facebook – or through WhatsApp: +62 831-6798-5695.

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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