Name: Mohammad Aman

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, good English skills, volunteer Bahasa teacher and interpreter, Mechanic, FULLY FUNDED.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

Aman was abducted by the Taliban and he was at the risk of being killed by them. Fortunately, he succeeded to escape from there and made it to Indonesia in 2014.

Since a young age, he has been improving his mechanical skills, and his hope now is to find a group of Canadian friends who can bring him to Canada where he can work, live with freedom and help society.

His Story

Mohammad Aman was born in January 1996, in Jaghori district in Ghazni province in Afghanistan.

The Hazara people of the region have long been targets of persecution and massacres due to their culture, religion, and love for education. As a Hazara boy, Aman loved getting an education. Besides his studies, he used to help his brother at his mechanic store. One day in 2013, Aman was heading to Ghazni for his pre-preparation for the entrance exam. On the way, he and other passengers were stopped by the Taliban at their checkpoint. Members of the Taliban started interrogating the passengers, and a young member approached Aman who then recognized him by a glance at his National Identity Card. He asked about Aman’s relation to mechanic Ramazan.

“I was very afraid and I told him that I did not know Ramazan, but the man said that they were informed that I was Ramazan’s brother.”

Members of the Taliban let other passengers go but they started beating Aman and asked him where his brother was. They took Aman to an unknown place where he was continuously asked about his brother’s location. He was tortured and badly beaten.

After a couple of days, the elders of the region came and negotiated for a long time with the Taliban to free Aman. Finally, Aman was freed, but he was threatened by the Taliban that he would be killed if the Taliban found him in the region.

Taken Again

Since Aman was an education lover, in 2014, he decided to study the preparation for his entrance exam again and he was very excited about that. While going to Ghazni for his studies, he faced the same incident. He was stopped by the Taliban and after being recognized, he was tortured and taken to an unknown place again.

“They kept me in a dark grubby room for days and I was very scared of losing my life.”

One midnight, Aman heard gun fires and some men that were speaking in Farsi. He screamed for help and they rescued him. They were Arbaki Police (Local Police) and they took Aman to their base where he told them his story. The next day, they drove him to the highway from where he went to Kabul by public transportation. After his arrival, he contacted Ramazan (his brother) who had already been living in Australia and told him what had happened. His brother told him to leave the country immediately because he was already recognized by the Taliban and he would be killed if he stayed there.

The Way

Aman arranged for a people smuggler, and in September 2014, he flew to New Delhi, India. From there, he went to Malaysia by plane and then on to Indonesia by boat in September 2014.

Life in Indonesia

After arriving in Jakarta, Aman registered himself with the UNHCR in early October 2014 and started living in Bogor. He spent his time learning the Bahasa Indonesia language and learned more about the mechanism through online sources. With no right to work or way to support himself in Indonesia, he went to Batam Immigration Centre in 2016 to ask for assistance. Later on, he was transferred to a detention centre. Despite facing many difficulties like, being treated like a prisoner, and having not enough food and water, Aman kept himself busy learning English, playing football and doing workouts. Also, he volunteered as an interpreter for his refugee fellows and became a volunteer Bahasa teacher as well.

Helping his Fellows

In early 2018, he received his freedom from the detention centre and was transferred to a community house in Tanjung Pinang.

“Due to the long process of resettlement, refugees are low motivated and they suffer from mental health issues. My first concern is to keep them motivated and give them hope. I fundamentally believe that the more we help the more we improve in our personal life, and I will never withhold what I am capable of doing in society.”

Living in the State of Limbo

Although as a refugee, Aman has been deprived of his basic human rights, he considers every challenge as an opportunity to improve himself. He believes that if he maintains his motivation and searches for positivity, he will never succumb to any challenges.

There is a way for Aman to pursue his education and live his life with freedom.

Since he 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 him is that he is FULLY FUNDED.

If you would like to sponsor him – 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 Aman directly on Facebook – or through WhatsApp: +62-831-8463-1948 .

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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