Name: Mehran Safdari

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Tanjung Pinang, Indonesia.

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

Needed: Five people to serve as private sponsors to Canada.

Advantages: UN-certified, excellent English skills. FULL FUNDING from friends and relatives in Europe and Australia. EMPLOYABLE: strong skill in masonry and ceramics

When Mehran was a boy growing up in Afghanistan, he was attacked by a group of Kuchis who wanted his family’s land. His father stepped in to save his son – and lost his own life. The Taliban made it clear that Mehran was their next target.

He fled his home country and made his way to Indonesia by boat – another victim of the ongoing genocide against the Hazara people. Despite facing the difficulties of living in a detention centre for three and a half years, he did his best to make his mother proud. He studied and exercised his body and mind to keep himself healthy. His hope now is to find five Canadian friends who can help him start his life again.

Childhood

Mehran Safdari was born on March 31, 1997, in a small village in the Malistan district of the Ghazni province in Afghanistan. His town was located on the border of an area dominated by the Pashtun, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.

The area where Mehran's family had their farm was surrounded by lands owned by the Kuchi tribe. The Kuchis are part of the larger Pashtun group, and for years they have made efforts to take over the lands of the Hazaras. Some Kuchis are also members of the Taliban.

Working with his father

One Friday morning in July 2013, Mehran’s father asked him to accompany him to the family’s farm. The farm was about one hour's walk from their home in a place called Susah, located on the border of Hazarajat, which is inhabited principally by the Hazara people. The other side of Susah is dominated by members of the Taliban and Pashtun tribes. This made it a risky area for Mehran and his father, as Hazaras, to be in.

The Hazara people of the region have long been targets of persecution and massacres. The systemic discrimination has been a feature in Afghanistan throughout history and the ongoing genocide is still a cruel fact of life in this area.

One of the things that sets the Hazara people apart, beside their language, culture and religion (Shia, rather than Sunni Islam) is stronger respect for education and the rights of women. They are seen as enemies by the Pashtun people and by Taliban extremists. Any Hazara who approaches their territory is at grave risk of being attacked.

When they arrived on the farm, Mehran and his father worked alongside each other until noon. Mehran’s responsibility was watering the crops. His father told Mehran to continue watering the crops which were on the other side, near the area of the Kuchis.

The incident

When Mehran went to the other side, he noticed that a group of Kuchis had released their animals onto his property. He suspected they had done it on purpose. In that highly contested area, incursions on Hazara territory are common and are intended to be viewed as acts of aggression.

Sensing danger, Mehran shouted at the Kuchis to keep their animals out of the area.

The farmers approached, looking for revenge.

“A young and helpless boy, I was cornered and beaten terribly. I shouted as loudly as I could, calling my dad to rescue me from the attack.”

After a few minutes, Mehran’s father arrived and tried to take the situation in hand. He told Mehran to run home.

Despite being hurt, Mehran fled the scene, feeling he had no choice but to leave his father behind. While running home, he heard shouting and the sound of a gunshot. He rushed to his mother and told her what had happened. She went to his uncle’s home to inform his uncle, elders of the town, and clergymen about the incident.

“They all gathered together and went to the place where I had left my father behind. They came back with his dead body.”

In the attack on his father, one of the Kuchis had also died.

Mehran was accused of being the main cause of the tragedy, and members of the Taliban started looking for him. It was impossible for him to stay in his country.

Leaving home

Mehran and his family gathered at his uncle’s home that same night and made plans to send him from Afghanistan. By July 2013, he had arrived in Quetta, Pakistan, with his uncle. After staying there for two weeks there, he moved with his uncle again – this time to Tehran, Iran.

In Tehran, Mehran started working in construction, as well as taking on jobs as a chef, to help his uncle cover the costs of his stay there. He had no legal status in the country, however, and he was caught and arrested by the Iranian police for staying and working without documents.

In June 2014, he was deported back to Herat, Afghanistan. From there he managed to make his way to Quetta, Pakistan.

“After staying in Pakistan for about 25 days, I heard that people are travelling to Indonesia to be rescued from death, insecurity, and discrimination.”

Mehran asked his uncle for help in getting to Indonesia. His uncle arranged a people smuggler, and on July 23, 2014, he was taken from Quetta to Karachi by bus.

He then flew from Karachi to Bangkok, Thailand on July 24, 2014. On the same day, he and some other refugees flew to Malaysia, where they stayed for 15 days. Eventually, they were brought to Indonesia by boat on August 10, 2014.

Life in Indonesia

After arriving in Jakarta and registering at the UNHCR office on August 14, 2014, Mehran stayed in a hotel for some days.

With no right to work or way to support himself in this new country, he and some other refugees, made their way to Tanjung-Pinang Immigration Detention Centre and asked for assistance. There, they were treated inhumanely by the officers and were forced to sleep outside of the immigration centre.

Life in a detention centre

After two months of living under the open sky, in the hot sun and heavy rains, Mehran and the other refugees, mostly young Hazara men like him, were brought inside the detention centre and locked up. They were treated like criminals, rather than as refugees who had fled their country to save their lives.

The detention centre was over-crowded and badly ventilated, and they faced many challenges, like lack of food, water, and proper medical care.

Despite facing such difficulties, for three-and-a-half years, Mehran did his best to keep up his spirits.

“I managed my time by doing physical exercise, learning English and reading books to keep myself physically and mentally healthy.”

Finally, Mehran received his freedom from the detention centre in January 2018. Since then, he has been living in a community house in Tanjung-Pinang, Indonesia.

His life now

Mehran always tries to stay positive and spend his time learning and helping others. He has been volunteering as an interpreter and has even helped the Indonesian locals with their projects. He has participated in World Cleanup Day as well.

Mehran dreams of a better and safe future in a third country, where he can pursue higher education, stand on his own two feet, support his family from afar, and continue to help others. He really deserves it because he is a persevering and hopeful person.

“I hope to find kind friends who would help me find a new home where I could have my basic rights. My dream is to give back to society and hopefully one day help other refugees like myself.”

The opportunity

Since Mehran 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 , He also has some friends who have agreed to cover the costs of his first year in Canada. These funds will be placed in a trust account as part of the requirements for his application to come to Canada.

If you would like to sponsor Mehran – or if you’re just interested in helping to bring him here – please contact his friends Stephen Watt.

You can also reach out to Mehran directly on Facebook or by email.

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