Name: Mohammad Ismail Hussaini

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, fluent English speaker, experienced car mechanic and driver.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

Needed: 5 Canadian friends who can sponsor him to Canada.

Ismail was at great risk of being recaptured, and killed by the Taliban. He was terrified by the Taliban who had beaten and cursed him. Luckily, he fled to Indonesia and saved his life in 2014.

While being detained for 42 months in Indonesia where he faces many challenges, he built himself up by learning English, exercising and helping his refugee fellows as a volunteer teacher.

His hope now is to find a group of five Canadian friends who can bring him to Canada where he can work, help society and reunite with his old mother who is stuck in Afghanistan.

The Tragic Story

Ismail was born in January 1997, in the Jaghori district in Ghazni province in Afghanistan.

His father was an excellent car mechanic and welder. He used to work with his father. Along with repairing cars and carrying out their maintenance, they made doors and windows for schools and their customers. A number of statemen and policemen also used to bring their cars for repair there.

The Hazara people of the region have long been targets of persecution and massacres because of their culture, religion, and love for education. According to the Taliban, dealing with or helping government departments or servicemen was an act of infidelity. Unfortunately, someone had reported to the Taliban about Ismail’s father, and on November 15, 2013, when Ismail’s father was returning from Ghazni to Jaghori, the Taliban captured him at the place called Dasht-e-Qarabagh. Since that time, Ismail has not heard of his father.

“I was completely devastated by the news. My mother was shocked and has been severely traumatized since.”

Captured and Tortured

In the spring of 2014, Ismail started working as a car mechanic at his father's workshop. Since he had been working with him for a long time, he was able to repair and carry out the car’s maintenance as his father did. On July 16, 2014, he went to Ghazni to bring some car equipment for his workshop. While returning on July 19, 2014, he was in the taxi with 4 other passengers when three armed members of the Taliban stopped them in the place called Dasht-e-Qarabagh. While searching them, members of the Taliban took their cell phones, national identity documents (Tazkiras), and some school documents of a passenger named Yonus who was a school teacher.   

“I was petrified. We had been accused of working with the government.”

Ismail and the other passengers were tied up, blindfolded and put inside the car. After about 30 minutes of the ride, they were brought to an unknown place where they were put in a room. Members of the Taliban uncovered their eyes but their hands were still tied up.

After about an hour, the members of the Taliban came to the room and started beating and cursing Ismail and the other prisoners until midnight. After members of the Taliban left the room, the school teacher Yonus told Ismail that they had to escape or else they all would be killed by the next day. Then they untied each other and escaped through the window of that room. After about 15 minutes of running, they heard noises of dogs barking. The school teacher Yonus told them to run separately so that they could not be traced easily.

About one and a half hours later, Ismail saw some lights which led him to the highway. He then went to Kabul by a public bus.

“I was so stressed, shocked and confused. I did not know what to do or where to go.”

The Journey

Ismail found a hotel whose owner was a Hazara from the Jaghori district. After sharing his story with the hotel owner, he was given a room and advised not to go out. Since the Taliban had all the information about Ismail, they could easily capture and kill him in the country. Ismail contacted his mother and told her everything. She was shocked and cried. She then told him not to return to his village or else he would be killed by the Taliban. His mother sent him some money and told him to leave the country, and the hotel owner made him a passport and helped him find a people smuggler.

On July 28, 2014, he flew to New Delhi, India and stayed there for 15 days. From there, he was brought to Malaysia by plane where he stayed for 10 days. Finally, he arrived in Pekanbaru, Indonesia by boat on August 23, 2014.

Detention Centre

After arriving in Jakarta, he registered himself with the UNHCR on August 28, 2014. With no right to work or way to support himself in Indonesia, he went to Pekanbaru Immigration Centre to ask for assistance. On December 18, 2014, he was transferred to a detention centre in Kupang NTT, a remote island in Indonesia. The detention centre was a true prison, and Ismail and other refugees experienced severe diseases there. While facing many challenges there, Ismail spent his time learning English, exercising and helping his refugee fellows to overcome the challenging situation.

Freedom

After spending 42 months inside the detention centre, he was freed in July 2018 and was transferred to a community house in Kupang NTT.

“I felt relieved after getting out of the detention centre, but still, I have no right to work, get proper education and live with freedom like other normal people.”

Despite his struggle to stay strong against the challenges in his life, he has been suffering from depression and anxiety due to the uncertainty of his future.  

Family in Danger

Ismail has a 54-year-old mother who is sick and struggling alone in Afghanistan. He says:

“My mother’s situation and the uncertainty of my life here have made me worried and depressed. A 54 years old woman in Afghanistan cannot work and support herself.”

There is a way for Ismail to resettle in a safe country like Canada where he can work, support his mother and reunite with her one day. 

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 Ismail directly on Facebook – or by email: ismael.hussaini107@gmail.com – or through WhatsApp: +62 821-4729-7926.

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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