Name: Mehdi Rezae

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, good English skills, speaks Arabic and Indonesian language, knows wood carving and furniture designing.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

WhatsApp: +62 897 2992 007

Mehdi survived a rocket attack by the Taliban in 1999, but he lost his left eyesight in the incident. His dark days didn’t end, in 2006, a gang attacked his family to take over their house in Kabul. As a result, Mehdi and his family fled to Iran.

From there, Mehdi fled to Syria where the Syrian Civil War made him escape to Indonesia in 2013.

He lived more than a year in a detention centre where he volunteered as a refugee representative. Now, he hopes to find a group of friends who can help him come to Canada where he can work, support his family and help society.

His Early Life

Mehdi Rezae was born on July 12, 1982 in Behsud town of the Markazi Bihsud district in Maidan Wardak 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.

In 1999, Mehdi was in Dasht-e-Barchi, Kabul when the Taliban fired a rocket there and Mehdi’s head and one eye got injured. He was then taken to Nur Hospital for treatment, and the doctor suggested him to go to Pakistan or other countries for his eye surgery.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t travel to another country because the Taliban was everywhere, and I lost my left eyesight.”

Threatened

In 2001, Mehdi’s family bought land in Kabul and began building a house on it, and in 2006, it was finally built. After two months of shifting to the new house, one day, five Pashtun men came to Mehdi’s home and claimed that the land had been for their leader who was known by the name of Manghal.

Mehdi’s family told them that they had the proof of their land, but the Pashtun men told them to leave the house within a week, otherwise, the result would be so bad.

“After a week, one of them came to our home and told my mother that they would kill all of us in our house, then he left. At that time, I wasn’t at home”

Mehdi went to Police Station to file a report against them, but the local police told him to come after 4 days because the in charge of the police station was on vacation.

Three days later, Manghal and his armed gang came to Mehdi’s home and 3 of them entered his home by force. One of his gang members started behaving violently with Mehdi’s father. Mehdi got involved with him and they fought there.

This time Manghal gave them the last chance and told them to leave the house in two days. He said that he would do anything he wanted and no one would be able to stop him.

The next day, Mehdi went to the police station and met the head of police. He was also from Pashtun ethnic, and after hearing everything from Mehdi, he told him to solve his problem with Manghal himself.

“I was shocked. I asked him the reason and he said that I had to do whatever Manghal was saying because he was a powerful person in Kabul and police couldn’t do anything against him.”

Taken

One day later, Mehdi was on his way to home when Manghal’s gang attacked his home, they search everywhere but couldn’t find the documents so they took his father with them, and his siblings and mother couldn’t do anything. Mehdi’s family was given 3 days to hand over their house’s documents to Manghal and leave the house, and if not, Manghal would kill Mehdi’s father.

Mehdi went to the police station to ask for help but didn’t get a response, so he asked for help from some Hazara elders, and one of them (Sheikh Hassan) asked his relative Mukhtar, who was in police to search for Mehdi’s father.

The next day, Mukhtar found out that an old Hazara man was detained in Pul e Charkhi jail, and Mehdi immediately went there and confirmed by his father’s name and other details that the old man was his father.

“Instead of arresting culprits, the police had arrested my innocent father. I asked to meet my father but they didn’t allow me.”

Mehdi asked the Hazara policeman (Mukhtar) to do something to release his father, and fortunately, Mukhtar knew a Pashtun officer who was at the same jail.

However, the officer then demanded 50 000 Afghani in return and Mehdi arranged the money with the help of Sheikh Hassan and his neighbors.

“The night of the same day, I and Sheikh Hassan went to Mukhtar’s home and saw my father was there in front of my eyes.”

Leaving Home

Mukhtar suggested Mehdi and his father not to go back to their home because Manghal could do whatever he wanted. On the other hand, Mehdi’s father had heard from someone that Manghal’s gang had been looking for Mehdi because he had beaten one of them.

On that same night, Mukhtar (the Hazara policeman) and Sheikh Hassan brought Mehdi’s siblings and mother to Mukhtar’s home and they stayed there for a week.

Mehdi’s Elder brother and elder sister had been living in Iran, and they arranged for a people smuggler to bring Mehdi and his family to Iran.

In October 2006, they left Kabul for Iran by road. After a week, they arrived in Qom, Iran.

Mehdi started wood carving there for living. The situation of Afghan refugees in Iran is very tough and they are always at risk of being caught and deported back to Afghanistan.

Searching for a New Home

Mehdi saw he had no future there, so he made his way to Turkey in August 2007, and from there to Damascus, Syria. In August 2007, he registered himself at the UNHCR office in Damascus, but after 4 months, he was detained due to not having a legal visa for staying in Syria. Despite being registered with the UNHCR, he was deported back to Iran and from there to Afghanistan. After staying for a few days, he came back to Iran and stayed there for more than a year. He made his way to Syria again in September 2009 and stayed there till 2013. Due to the Syrian Civil War, he made his passport by the charge d'affaires of the Afghanistan Embassy in 2012 and got a visa for Iran and Thailand.

His Way to Indonesia

In February 2013, he flew to Tehran, Iran and stayed in Qom for 6 months. In July 2013, he flew from Tehran to Thailand where he arranged for a people smuggler, and after one week, he went to Malaysia illegally by car and bus and remained there for about one week. Finally, he arrived in Indonesia by boat on August 4, 2013.

Life in Limbo

After registering himself at the UNHCR office in Jakarta on September 3, 2013, he moved to Cisarua, Bogor.

Having no right to work in the new country, Mehdi went to Tanjung Pinang Immigration Centre to ask for assistance, and on October 5, 2013 he was transferred to a detention centre. In the detention centre, Mehdi started helping refugees as a representative. In June 2014, he got his freedom and was transferred to a community house in Medan.

His Hope

Mehdi has been living with the hope of having a home in a peaceful country where he can have his basic human rights to work and support his family one day.

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

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

You can also reach out to Mehdi on WhatsApp: +62 897 2992 007.

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!