Name: Mohammad Aman Shafaei

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, excellent English skills, experienced welder and constructor.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

After losing his brother in an attack by the Taliban, Aman escaped to Iran to save his life. Unfortunately, he was deported back to Afghanistan due to not having legal status in Iran. Knowing that he would never be safe in Afghanistan, he fled to Indonesia in 2015.

Despite living in a state of limbo, Aman acquired advanced English skills. He is an experienced welder and constructor, and his dream is to use his skills and support his late brother’s family (his brother’s wife, four nephews, and one niece). His hope now is to find a group of five Canadian friends who can help him start a new life in Canada.

Early Life

Mohammad Aman was born in January 1993, in Khas Uruzgan district in Uruzgan province in Afghanistan. Aman and his elder brother used to work as a builder for Governmental NGOs, and they built a number of schools and streams. In the year 2011, Abdul Hakim Shujaae, a Hazara warlord who used to defend Hazara ethnicity from the Taliban, decided to build a checkpoint in the place named Kharkandeh. Aman’s brother contracted with Abdul Hakim Shujaae to build that checkpoint. 

While working there, Aman and his brother received threatening letters from the Taliban to leave their work many times. When Aman’s brother decided to leave the project, Abdul Hakim Shujaae said that he would not pay them if they did not complete the contract. So, Aman and his brother had to continue working there.

Attacked

On August 03, 2011, Aman and his brother were working at the checkpoint when armed members of the Taliban attacked.

“Hearing gun fires and people’s shouts, I ran away from there. It was night when I arrived at my uncle’s home.”

Quavering with fear, Aman hid at his uncle’s home. Later on, he and his uncle’s family started worrying about his brother. The next day in the morning, the elders of the village brought the dead bodies of the victims. Tragically, Aman’s elder brother was among them.  

A few days later, Aman went to his uncle’s home and stayed late at night when someone knocked on the door and kept asking for Aman. Seeing Aman scared, his uncle said that he would go and talk outside. Aman then learned from his uncle that his home was attacked by the Taliban that night.

“Hearing this, I got worried for my late brother’s family, his wife and 5 children.”

Fleeing to Iran

Aman’s uncle brought his sister-in-law and her children to his house. The members of the Taliban were looking for Aman, and they had tortured and beaten Aman’s sister-in-law and his brother’s children. Aman’s uncle told him that the situation had got too risky for Aman and his brother’s family. They had to leave the country to survive.   

With the help of his uncle, Aman and his brother’s family fled to Tehran, Iran illegally in August 2011. They started living at his cousin’s home who had been there for years. While living there, Aman worked as a welder to support his family.

The Deportation

Due to not having legal documents to stay in the country, Aman was arrested by local police in May 2015 and was deported to Herat, Afghanistan. Aman then contacted his uncle and told him that he would return to his village. His uncle stopped him by saying that the Taliban had control of the area and they could capture and kill him at any time.

The Journey

Aman could not live peacefully in Afghanistan, nor he could live in Iran. He decided to seek a safe country where he could work and support his late brother’s family. With the help of his uncle, he arranged for a people smuggler, and on May 15, 2015, he flew to New Delhi, India. From there, he went to Malaysia and then on to Jakarta, Indonesia by plane on June 01, 2015.

Life in The State of Limbo 

On June 03, 2015, Aman registered himself with the UNHCR. With no right to work or way to support himself in Indonesia, he went to Pekanbaru Immigration Centre to ask for assistance.  Later on, he was given shelter in a community house in Pekanbaru, Indonesia. Since then, he has been living there.

While living in the state of limbo, Aman kept himself busy learning English. He completed intermediate and advanced levels of English skills. Lately, his concern for his late brother’s family has increased, because they are at risk of being deported to Afghanistan which is under the Taliban’s rule. He says:

“I feel so helpless that I cannot help my late brother’s children in Iran. The most painful feeling for me is knowing that they are deprived of getting an education”

There is Hope

Aman is a motivated man. He loves to work as a taxi driver, mechanic and farmer. Unfortunately, as a refugee, he cannot work, get a proper education, drive and even travel to another city.

There is a way for him to fulfill his dreams. 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.

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 reach out to Mohammad Aman directly by email, on Facebook – or through WhatsApp: +62 895-1821-6628.

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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