Name: Liaqat Safdari

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, good English skills, volunteer translator, excellent constructional skills, FULLY FUNDED.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

After being captured and badly tortured by the Taliban, Liaqat found the opportunity and fled to Indonesia by boat to save his life in 2014.

He spent more than 3 years inside a detention centre in Indonesia. Despite being deprived of his basic human rights, he has kept himself busy learning languages and computer skills. His hope now is to find a group of friends who can help him start his life again.

His Story

Liaqat Safdari was born in 1998 in a village of the Jaghori district in Ghazni province in Afghanistan. After completing high school, he decided to continue his education in Ghazni so that besides studying, he could work and support his family as well.

Some friends of Liaqat from his village were also studying in Ghazni. While going to Ghazni, a family member of one of his friends gave a bag to Liaqat and told him to deliver it to his friend in Ghazni.

The Hazara people of the region have long been targets of persecution and massacres because of their culture, religion, and love for education. It was June 23, 2014, when Liaqat and other passengers reached Dasht-e-Qarabagh in a taxi, and the Taliban intercepted and started searching them.

“There were 5 armed members of the Taliban and they had 3 motorcycles.”

The Taliban found some documents from the bag of Liaqat’s friend which he was taking to his friend. Also, they found an ID Card of a passenger who was in the police. Then they started beating Liaqat, the passenger who was a policeman and the taxi driver. Liaqat and the policeman were taken to an unknown place where they were beaten again.

“While beating me, the member of the Taliban was asking me why I had been learning infidel’s language. It was because they had found English language certificates and a laptop from the bag.”

Then they asked Liaqat to unlock the laptop that was found in the bag. Liaqat did not know its password and when he told the Taliban, they tortured him more. Later on, members of the Taliban left Liaqat and the Hazara policeman alone inside the old room.

Escaping

The Hazara policeman told Liaqat that they both had to escape or they both would be killed, and then they escaped from there at night.

“While running, I heard gunshots and suddenly, I lost the Hazara policeman. I was feeling more terrified and lonelier.”

Liaqat followed the light of a cell tower where he reached and found a watchman who took him to the nearest road on his motorcycle and asked a car driver to take Liaqat to Kabul.

From Afghanistan to Indonesia

In Kabul, Liaqat contacted his mother and told her everything.

“My mother was crying continuously and asked me to stay there until she sent my maternal uncle to Kabul.”

After arriving there, his uncle arranged for a people smuggler for Liaqat to escape from Afghanistan. On July 2, 2014, he flew to New Delhi, India and stayed there for 15 days. From there, he went to Malaysia by plane and then on to Pekanbaru, Indonesia by boat on August 11, 2014.

Hard Days in Indonesia

After registering himself with the UNHCR in Jakarta, Liaqat went to Tanjung Pinang Immigration Centre to ask for assistance because refugees in Indonesia do not have the right to work to support themselves.

Liaqat was then kept inside a room for two months inside the immigration centre. Then, he was transferred to a detention centre on December 11, 2014.

Life in the detention centre was difficult, with lack of food, water and proper health care, and the refugees were compelled to go on a number of hunger-strikes and protests for better conditions. Despite such difficulties, Liaqat kept himself busy learning English and Indonesian languages, learning computer programs and playing football. He also took part in many football tournaments inside the detention centre.

“I am always hopeful and motivated. I believe difficulties will come to end, and there is always comfort and happiness at the end.”

Last Word

On January 28, 2018, Liaqat received his freedom from the detention centre and was transferred to a community house in Tanjung Pinang.

“I was feeling blessed and happy because I could finally see nature and local people. That freedom opened my ways to start learning new skills and hope for a way to get out of this uncertainty.”

Liaqat is always trying to turn the obstacles into opportunities and his problems into possibilities.

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

If you would like to sponsor Liaqat – 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 Liaqat directly on Facebook – or by email: bosadesafdari@gmail.com.