Name: Khanali Nazari

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, experienced farmer.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

Khanali was accused of having an affair with a Pashtun girl, and the Taliban had been searching for him to kill him. Luckily, he was informed before and fled to Indonesia by boat in 2014.

While being deprived of his basic human rights and being kept inside a detention centre, Khanali made the best of his time by learning English and doing exercises. His hope now is to find a group of five Canadian friends who can help him start his life again in Canada.

His Early Life

Khanali was born in 1997 in a village in the Jaghori district in Ghazni province in Afghanistan. He was a child when his mother died.

The Hazara people of the region have long been targets of persecution and massacres due to their culture, religion, and love for education. Khanali was the eldest son of his father. Due to financial problems, he could only study until 5^th grade at school. Besides helping his father in farming, Khanali was working as a herdsman for a Pashtun man to support his family.

Accused

The Pashtun man’s home was in another village called Rasna, and he had a daughter who was engaged to a Pashtun man. While working there, the daughter of the Pashtun man used to talk freely and joke with Khanali. Looking at them, her father thought Khanali and his daughter had an affair and he started thinking of taking revenge on Khanali.

One day in the morning, the Pashtun girl told Khanali to escape from there and save his life because her father had informed the Taliban about Khanali.

“I did not know what was happening. I wanted to stay and explain to the Pashtun man that I was innocent but in Afghanistan, people easily kill each other in the name of honor.”

Khanali ran away from there. When he contacted his family, his uncle told him that the Pashtun man had come to his home to kill him, but he could not find Khanali there and he fought with Khanali’s father and shot him. Two days later, his father died in the hospital.

Journey

Khanali went to Kabul, and after his uncle arranged for a people smuggler, he flew to New Delhi, India in November 2014. From there, he went to Malaysia by plane and then on to Indonesia by boat in December 2014.

Detention Centre

After arriving in Jakarta, Khanali registered himself with the UNHCR. Due to not having the right to work or way to support himself, he went to Makassar Immigration Centre to ask for assistance in early January 2015.

After sleeping in the backyard of the immigration centre for 9 months, he was transferred to a detention centre in September 2015. The detention centre was overcrowded which made Khanali sick.

“Due to my sickness, I was not able to sleep for nights.”

Despite living there, he tried his best to stay positive. He exercised with other refugees and kept attending English classes there.

Gallstone Disease

Due to not having access to clean water, Khanali got Gallstone Disease. He applied multiple times for his treatment, but IOM refused to take the responsibility.

“With the help of my friends, my treatment was done. They supported me from their pocket”

His Life Now

After remaining for 28 months in the detention centre, he received his freedom and was transferred to a community house in the city of Makassar in 2017. Since then, he has been spending his time learning English and Bahasa Indonesia.

Khanali hopes to continue his education, and his dream is to travel around the world.

“I hope to resettle in a peaceful country where I can get an education and contribute to making the world a better place for all.”

It is possible. Since Khaali 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.

If you would like to sponsor Khanali – 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 Khanali directly on Facebook or by email: nazarikhanali76@gmail.com - or WhatsApp: +62-857-5653-6249

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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