Name: Habibullah Mirzayee

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia since 2014.

Advantages: UN-certified, good English skills, refugee representative, volunteer translator and skilled librarian, FULLY FUNDED.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

Habibullah had a stationery store. His life changed when he was so close to being arrested and killed by the Taliban, but luckily, he had been informed by his friend that he had had to run to save his life. In search of a safe country, he fled to Indonesia by boat in 2014.

While living inside the detention centre, he served his refugee fellows as a representative. Also, he was a volunteer translator there. Now, he hopes to find a group of friends who can bring him to Canada where he can start his life again.

His Story

Habibullah was born in 1981 in a village of the Jaghori district in Ghazni province in Afghanistan.

Due to financial problems, Habibullah studied only till 7^th grade at school. Later on, he started working at a stationery store.

After 2 years in 2012, he owned a stationery store. Beside selling school materials, Habibullah used to bring Islamic books from Ghazni and sell them. In 2014, he found out that someone had conspired behind him and told the villagers that Habibullah had been selling Iranian Islamic books that were not allowed in the village. Habibullah did not take it seriously because he believed books were harmless and would bring huge positive changes in society.

Later on, Habibullah was informed by his friend that some people had been spreading false information saying that Habibullah had been preaching Christianity in the village. This time, the information reached the Taliban, and Habibullah was threatened by them to stop selling books.

Habibullah was not so serious about the threat because it was his only way to support his family.

On His Way

In February 2014, he went to Ghazni to bring books. While returning to Jaghori, he reached near the Taliban’s check post when his neighbor called him and told him that he had just crossed the Taliban’s check post. The Taliban had been searching for Habibullah. His neighbor also told Habibullah not to return to Jaghori or else, he would be arrested and killed by the Taliban.

“I was very terrified. I told the driver to turn back the car and drive me to Ghazni immediately.”

After arriving in Ghazni, Habibullah went to Kabul. He then contacted his family and came to know from them that the Taliban had arrested many Hazara students from their check post in Qarabagh.

“My mother was very worried and she was asking continuously about my safety.”

From Afghanistan to Indonesia

From Kabul, Habibullah wanted to flee to Iran, but he was told by his friend that the Iran border had been closed those days. He was suggested by his friend to go to Indonesia since the UNHCR in Indonesia used to give protection and shelter.

After arranging for a people smuggler, Habibullah flew to New Delhi, India on March 5, 2014 and stayed there for 11 days. Then he went to Malaysia by plane where he and some other refugees could not get out of the airport, so they traveled to Cambodia by plane and then went to Bangkok, Thailand by land. On March 28, he and other refugees went from Bangkok to Malaysia by land and then on to Pekanbaru, Indonesia by boat on April 2, 2014.

Detention Centre

On April 4, 2014, he arrived in Jakarta and registered himself with the UNHCR on April 7.

With no right to work or way to support himself in the new country, Habibullah went to Batam Immigration Centre to ask for assistance on November 14, 2014. On January 29, 2015, he was transferred to a detention centre in Pontianak which was overcrowded. Due to lack of space, Habibullah spent one year under the rain and sun without a roof, and that place was near the toilet.

“It was very hard to live in such a place.”

After months, Habibullah was given space to sleep. He was interviewed by the UNHCR representative inside the detention centre and then he got his refugee recognition from the UNHCR there. While living in the detention centre, Habibullah attended all the classes provided by the UNHCR and IOM, learned English and Indonesian languages and served his refugee fellows as a representative.

“I helped my friends as a translator there and I was very glad that I could do something for my friends.”

On March 18, 2018, he was freed from the detention centre and was transferred to a community house in Tanjung Pinang.

Hopes

Habibullah has been deprived of his basic human rights. As a refugee, he is not allowed to work, study, drive and travel to another city. He has been busy studying classes, doing self-studies and exercise.

Habibullah hopes to live his life in a peaceful country. He has spent most of his life suffering from war and discrimination.

It has been about a decade since he has been far from his family.

It is possible for him to live his life in a country like Canada where he can work, study, support his family and reunite with them one day.

Since Habibullah 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 Habibullah is that he is FULLY FUNDED.

If you would like to sponsor Habibullah – 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 Habibullah directly on Facebook – or by email: Habibmirzayee92@gmail.com or by WhatsApp: +6282383886662

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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