Name: Esmatullah Ghulami

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

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

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

After Esmatullah’s father escaped from the Taliban’s captive, he told Esmatullah to leave the country immediately because all his school documents and National Identity card were with the Taliban. Esmatullah fled to Indonesia by boat in 2014.

Since then, he has been deprived of his basic human rights, and he hopes to find a group of kind friends who can help him come to Canada where he can study, work, support his family and live his life with freedom.

His Early Life

Esmatullah’s family fled to Pakistan in 1997 because the Taliban had taken over Afghanistan.

Esmatullah was born in 1998 in Quetta, Pakistan. As a child, he studied at Shamama High School in Hazara Town, Quetta. By 2013, the number of target killings and bomb attacks on the Hazara people increased in Pakistan. On February 16, 2013, a massive blast took place at a marketplace of Hazara Town which killed about 100 Hazara innocents and injured more than 200.

“Our home was near the blast site and the windows of our home got broken into pieces.”

After that blast, Esmatullah’s father decided to return to Afghanistan. On March 3, 2013, Esmatullah and his family returned to Qarabagh district in Ghazni province in Afghanistan.

Esmatullah’s father went to Iran illegally to work there and support his family. Due to not having legal documents, he was deported back to Afghanistan after six months. He then bought a car and started working as a taxi driver on the way from Qarabagh to Ghazni.

The Hazara people of the region have long been targets of persecution and massacres because of their culture, religion, and love for education. Esmatullah continued his study at Aheen High School in the Qarabagh district. One day, his school teacher told him to attest his school documents and Tazkira (National Identity Card) from the Ministry of Education and from the Population Registration Office in Ghazni.

The Incident

Since Esmatullah’s father, Rahmatullah was taking passengers from Qarabagh to Ghazni, he gave the documents to his father to attest them. In Ghazni, some people from his village gave their documents as well to Rahmatullah and told him to take them to the village too. While being on the way back to Qarabagh, Rahmatullah was stopped by the Taliban. After searching his car and finding all the documents, the Taliban took him to an unknown place where they started beating and torturing him. Rahmatullah was accused of being a government spy by the Taliban.

Fortunately, he succeeded in escaping from there that night, and in the early morning, he reached home.

“When I saw my father, he was badly beaten and tortured.”

From Afghanistan to Indonesia

Esmatullah’s father told Esmatullah to run to his friend’s home whose name was Khalil because Esmatullah’s school documents and National Identity Card was with the Taliban, so they could easily find and kill Esmatullah. After arriving there, Khalil took Esmatullah to Kabul where he arranged for a people smuggler to send Esmatullah to a safe country.

On May 7, 2014, he flew from Kabul to New Delhi, India and stayed there for 18 days. Then he went to Malaysia by plane and then on to Indonesia by boat on June 1, 2014.

Detention Centre

After arriving in Jakarta, Esmatullah registered himself at the UNHCR office on June 2, 2014. With no right to work or way to support himself in the new country, he went to Pekanbaru Immigration Centre to ask for assistance. On June 20, 2014, he was transferred to a detention centre in Pekanbaru.

“Life in the detention centre was so hard and unbearable. I was always hoping to be free from there one day.”

While living there, Esmatullah spent his time learning English, Indonesian languages and doing exercise.

His Life Now

In September 2015, Esmatullah received his freedom from the detention centre and was transferred to a community house in Pekanbaru. On July 9, 2019, he was transferred to another community house in Tanjung Pinang.

Esmatullah has been attending several classes provided by IOM to improve his skills. As a refugee, he has been deprived of his basic human rights. He cannot work, study, drive and travel to another city. He dreams to resettle in a country like Canada where he can work, study and live his life with freedom.

“I hope some kind people will help me for the sake of humanity.”

It is Possible!

It is possible. Since Esmatullah 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 Esmatullah is that he is FULLY FUNDED.

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

You can also reach out to Esmatullah directly on Facebook – or by email: ghulamiesmatullah 555@gmail.com or by WhatsApp: +62-831-8345-7729

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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