Name: Hassan Reza Afzali

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

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

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

After being captured by the Taliban, Hassan was about to be sentenced to death, his only way to survive was to escape from there in any way, so he fled to Indonesia by boat in 2014.

While living inside the detention centre, he volunteered as an English teacher for his refugee fellows. He loves helping others, and he needs our help now to find a group of friends who can bring him to Canada to start his life again.

His Voluntary Work

Hassan Reza Afzali was born in January 1991, in a village in the Ghazni province in Afghanistan.

The Hazara people of the region have long been targets of persecution and violence because of their culture, religion and love of education. The Afghan Presidential Election was held in 2014, and Hassan decided to volunteer as an observer in the election process in his village. Before the election, he and his colleagues were sent to Ghazni for training. After completing the training, they were on their way back to Jaghori. When they reached Dasht-e-Qarabagh, their car was intercepted by the Taliban.

Escaping from Death

“The Taliban read my and my colleague’s name and told us to come out of the car. We were then taken to an unknown place where they beat us badly and announced the death sentence for us.”

Hassan and his colleague were put inside a room. They both knew that they would not remain alive until the next morning, so they decided to escape from that room through a small window.

It was night, and while running away, Hassan lost his colleague due to the darkness. Before morning, he reached a highway from where he went to Kabul by car. He stayed hidden in Kabul and arranged for a people smuggler to make it to a safe country.

On October 7, 2014, he flew to New Delhi, India. From there, he went to Malaysia by plane and then on to Indonesia by boat on October 10, 2014.

Life in the Detention Centre

After arriving in Jakarta, Hassan registered himself with the UNHCR. With no right to work or way to support himself in the new country, he went to Balikpapan Immigration Centre to ask for assistance. On October 23, 2014, he was transferred to a detention centre where he volunteered as an English teacher. Also, he used his time in learning many skills through Kiron (Open Higher Education for Refugees), but due to lack of facilities, he could not continue his study.

Life Now

After spending more than 3 and a half years inside the detention centre, he was freed and transferred to a community house in Batam.

“I was so happy that I was able to walk freely outside the community house and breathe fresh air.”

Possible Way!

Hassan’s happiness was not for a long time, he soon realized that he was not living a free life. As a refugee, he cannot work, study, drive and travel to another city. His only hope to live a free life is to be helped by humanitarian friends who can bring him to Canada.

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

If you would like to sponsor Hassan – 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 Hassan 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!

Thank you for your support. And help spread the word by sharing this post!