Names: Hayatullah Yousofi, his wife Amina and their daughter Fatima (9).

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia, his wife and daughter are living in Quetta, Pakistan.

Advantages: UN-certified, good English skills, experienced constructor, cook and baker.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

When Hayatullah and his father were attacked by Kuchis (Pashtun nomads), his father got killed and he escaped with his family to Quetta, Pakistan to save their lives.

As a stateless person in Pakistan, it was not possible for him to find work and support his family, so he came to Indonesia in 2013 to resettle in a safe country. It has been a decade since Hayatullah has not met his family. He needs to resettle in a safe country where he can reunite with them and see his daughter Fatima (9 years old) getting a proper education. His hope now is to find a group of Canadian friends who can help him start a new life with his family in Canada. 

The Incident

Hayatullah was born in 1985 in Malistan, a district in Ghazni province in Afghanistan. Due to the responsibility of supporting his family, he had to leave his secondary school and start working with his father as a farmer.

The Hazara people of the region have long been targets of persecution and massacres because of their culture, religion, and love for education. In 2012, some Kuchi people attacked their farms. While Hayatullah and his father were trying to defend their farm, a skirmish developed. Since Hayatullah’s father and two Kuchis were using guns, three people got killed in that skirmish.

“There was shooting everywhere. I was very scared and one of them was shooting at me. I ran towards my home to save my life.”

When he arrived in his village, he told everything to his neighbors and relatives. Since he was badly wounded, one of his relatives took him to a nearby clinic while the villagers went to the skirmish location where his father was killed. Hayatullah was in the clinic when a relative of his informed him through a phone call that some armed Pashtun people went to his home searching for him. Fortunately, before they arrived at his home, his relatives had already moved his family somewhere safe. His relative also told Hayatullah to leave the village immediately.

Seeking Refuge

With the cooperation of his relatives, he left the clinic and moved to a neighboring village called Pashkhina where he reunited with his family including his wife, sister and his nephew. Then they fled to Quetta, Pakistan illegally via Kandahar in 2012.

Pakistan was not safe for Hazaras, and Hayatullah had to find work to support his family financially, so he decided to migrate to Iran. 15 days later, he went to Iran illegally to find work there, and he worked in Tehran, Iran as a construction worker for a year.

“I was in Iran when my first child, a daughter was born in Pakistan. I wanted to go home and hold my child in my lap, but it was not possible for me.”

Life in Pakistan

Due to not having legal documents to stay in the country, after a year, Hayatullah was deported to Afghanistan. He knew that he was no longer safe in his country, so he immediately went to Quetta, Pakistan.

Hayatullah faced many challenges while living in Pakistan. As a Hazara, he was not safe there because a terrorist group named Lashkar-e-Jhangvi had been killing Hazaras by targeting them or bomb blasting on Hazara areas. On the other hand, Hayatullah did not have the legal status to stay and work in the country. He needed to find a place where he could live peacefully, work and support his family. He had heard that people were migrating to Indonesia where UNHCR would help them resettle in a safe country.

His Journey

He had brought some money from Iran, and borrowed some from a friend to arrange for a people smuggler. On June 20, 2013, he flew from Peshawar to Thailand. From there, he went to Malaysia by plane and then on to Indonesia by boat on June 28, 2013.

Life in Indonesia

After arriving in Jakarta, he registered himself with the UNHCR on June 29, 2013, and started living in Cisarua, Bogor.

Due to not having the right to work or the way to support himself in Indonesia, Hayatullah went to Kalideres Immigration Centre to ask for assistance. After being detained for about 4 months inside the immigration centre, he was transferred to a community house in Bekasi. Since then, he has been living there.

Hayatullah has been learning English and Bahasa Indonesia. Also, he has been cooking food and baking bread for his refugee fellows in the community house.

Life Now

As a refugee, Hayatullah cannot work, get proper education and even open a bank account. On the other hand, he has been very worried for his wife Amina, and daughter Fatima who are living in fear with no financial support in Quetta, Pakistan. He says:

“I am stuck here in a state of limbo while my family needs my support.”

An Opportunity

He hopes to find kindhearted and generous friends who can help him and his family reunite in a safe country like Canada where his daughter can study and they all can live together peacefully.

There is a way for him to get out of this uncertainty. Since he is officially certified as a refugee by the UNHCR – unlike the vast majority of the world’s refugees – he and his family qualify for Canada’s private sponsorship program.

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

You can reach out to Hayatullah directly on Facebook – or by email: ayatyusofi7@gmail.com – or through WhatsApp: +62 882-1963-1280.

Reach out and discover how wonderful it is to privately sponsor a good family to start a new life – with your help – in Canada!

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