Name: Ghulam Rasool, his wife Shokria, and their children Nargis (12), Ali (10) and Amir (7).

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified refugee eligible for private sponsorship, driver.

FULLY FUNDED

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

Rasool was a taxi driver who accepted a client that would change his life. He drove a government military commander and now faced punishment or death by the Taliban. Rasool faced a terrible decision: flee the country leaving his pregnant wife and 2 children, or stay and die at the hands of the Taliban. Shokria begged him to flee. How could she know that their children would not see their father for over eight years?

Since then, Rasool has been deprived of his basic human rights as a refugee in Indonesia. Shokria and the children faced further harassment by the Taliban - schools closed and women's rights were taken away. They fled to Pakistan where they are living stateless. Rasool, Shokria and their children need your help! They need a group of friends who can sponsor them to come to Canada - a place where Rasool can work, Shokria can live freely and their children can safely attend school.

Their Story

Rasool and Shokria were both born in a village in the 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 of education.

In 2014, Rasool and Shokria were living a happy, normal life. They were married with children. Shokria cared for their daughter Nargis, and their son, Ali. They were excited - Shokria was three months pregnant with their third child. Rasool supported the family as a taxi driver. One day, Rasool was in the marketplace of Ghojur, Jaghori when he met a military commander who was fighting for the government. The commander told Rasool to drive him and his guards to Ghazni in the next morning. Rasool thought it would put him and his family in danger to take them to Ghazni, so he told his concerns to the commander, but the commander assured him that it would not be risky for Rasool.

The next day, Rasool took the commander and his guards to Ghazni, and then he went to a restaurant to have breakfast. While being there, he received a phone call. The person on the phone introduced himself as a member of the Taliban and he threatened to murder Rasool for to cooperating with the government employees.

“I was very scared and I hid in Ghazni for two nights.”

Captured and Threatened

After two nights, Rasool decided to return to his village and his family. He was captured by the Taliban before getting there.

“The Taliban blindfolded me, tied my hands and took me to an unknown place where they uncovered my eyes and threw me in a room.”

There was one more Hazara inside that room and he had been there for about two hours. After a while, a member of the Taliban came and said that the reason Rasool and the other Hazara guy had been arrested was that they both had been cooperating with the government employees by taking them to Ghazni. He also said that they had been waiting for their commander to come and decide punishments for both of them.

“We both saw no one came till late at night, then we decided to escape through a small window of the room to save our lives.”

After getting out of the room, they kept running until they reached the highway. From there, they went to Kabul by bus where they were separated.

Leaving Home

In Kabul, Rasool called his wife to tell her what had happened. Shokria was shocked. She wanted her husband by her side, but knew his life was at risk. She knew he would have to find a way to stay safe. Rasool found someone to smuggle him to Indonesia. Shokria urged him to go, even though she knew life without him would be difficult. It was better than if Rasool were caught by the Taliban - then he would be dead.

"It's painful when the incident happened to me - my last child was not born and now he has seven years old. And this is painful for me that I as their father couldn't keep them happy. I love Shokria because we have three lovely kids and I proud of her that she could still support my children without me since I fled from Afghanistan."

A Family Torn Apart

After a difficult journey, Rasool arrived in Indonesia. He registered with the UNHCR, he stayed in Bogor for a week. With no right to work or way to support himself in the new country, he went to Makassar Immigration Centre to ask for assistance. He was kept inside a detention centre like a criminal although he had commited no crime, from 2014 to 2016. Then he was transferred to a community house in Makassar.

Shokria and the children live with her parents. With the Taliban taking over Afghanistan, they could no longer stay. The Taliban closed the school for their daughter, stopped women from shopping unless they had a husband with them and forced all women to wear a veil. The Taliban also target Hazara for violence. The family fled to Pakistan, were they are staying now without papers, or school for the kids.

"Shokria did their best for our kids. I would love to be with her and my children, due to being far for almost a decade is not easy."

Hope for a Future Together

Rasool and his family are eligible be resettled in Canada through private sponsorship. As a UNHCR refugee, Rasool and his family are eligible for Canada’s private sponsorship program. They have a donor to provide the funds needed to support their first year in Canada. All they need now is a group of five Canadian friends to sponsor them. This means signing the sponsorship application and helping them when they arrive in Canada with social supports.

"As a parent, we hope our best for our children and struggle to bring their dreams came true. And, I love to live together with my family in a peaceful place."

To help support Ghulam Rasool as a sponsor, please contact Stephen Watt on Facebook.

You can also reach out to Ghulam Rasool 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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