Name: Hadi Rezaie

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, good English skills, education lover.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

Hadi was arrested, tortured and about to be killed by the Taliban due to delivering some school documents, English books and a laptop to his school. He was so lucky that he managed to escape from the captivity of the Taliban. So, he fled to Indonesia by boat in 2014.

Despite facing many difficulties inside the detention centre, he spent his time playing football and attending education classes there.

Now he needs a group of five friends who can help him come to Canada where he can pursue his education, learn more skills and help society.

His Educational Story

Hadi Rezaie was born on November 19, 1994 in Jaghori district of 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 for education. Hadi was a student at Sayed Jamaluddin High School in Jaghori. He went for a professional degree in Ghazni province.

In September 2014, he was willing to return to his village, and his school principal gave him some office documents, English books and a laptop to take to the school.

While being on the way with three other passengers, their car was stopped by the Taliban in Dasht-e-Qarabagh.

“The Taliban already had our details. After they searched and found the office documents, English books and the laptop from my bag, they blindfolded us and took us to a house.”

Tortured

There, they untied Hadi and started asking about the documents they had found from his bag.

He said that they belonged to Sayed Jamaluddin School, but the Taliban did not believe him and they kept beating him with a wood stick. Then, they put him in a room.

“It was evening time and they had gone for offering their prayers. As they believed that I was working for any foreign institute and company, they were to kill me sooner or later. So, I and the three other passengers decided to escape from there.”

After they untied their hands with their mouths, they escaped through the small window of that room. They kept running till they reached a road from where they went to Kabul by bus.

Leaving Home

The Taliban had every information of Hadi and they would find him in any way, so Hadi arranged for a people smuggler, and on September 18, 2014, he flew from Kabul to New Delhi, India where he stayed for 4 days. Then he flew to Malaysia and stayed there for 6 days. On September 18, 2014, he arrived in Indonesia by boat.

Life in Limbo

On September 30, 2014, he was registered at the UNHCR office in Jakarta.

With no right to work or way to support himself in the new country, he made his way to Pontianak Immigration Centre to ask for assistance. On October 22, 2014, he was transferred to a detention centre in Pontianak.

“I faced many problems like, lack of food, water and proper medical care, but I kept myself busy participating in many English and Indonesian language and Psychology classes.”

Finally, he received his freedom from there and was transferred to a community house in Tanjung Pinang in February 2018.

His Life Now

He has been passing his time in attending computer, Psychology, cooking, mechanical and Electrical classes.

As a UNHCR refugee, Hadi Rezaie is eligible for Canada’s private sponsorship program. He needs a group of five Canadian friends to support him.

To help support Hadi Rezaie as a sponsor, please contact Stephen Watt on Facebook.

You can also reach out to Hadi 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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