Names: Mohammad Mahdi, his wife Masooma and their newborn child Saara.

Profile: Hazara refugees from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, Mahdi is an experienced tailor. Masooma has excellent English skills and is an experienced volunteer English teacher.

Risk: At risk of being tortured and killed by Masooma’s family members and the Taliban if returned home.

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

Mahdi grew up in Pakistan as a refugee. His life changed when he and Masooma decided to get married but her family did not agree. They had to flee to stay together, so they came to Indonesia and got married.

Now, they have a beautiful daughter. Mahdi is an experienced tailor and his wife Masooma has been a volunteer English teacher. They hope to give their daughter Saara a proper education which is not possible to get as a refugee in Indonesia. They need a group of five Canadian friends who can help them come to Canada where they can work, get proper education and live their life with freedom.

Background

Mahdi’s family used to live in Khas Uruzgan district in the Uruzgan province in Afghanistan. They are from the Hazara ethnic group and have long been targets of persecution and massacres because of their culture, religion, and love for education. Mahdi’s father was a farmer and had a lot of livestock.

Before his birth in September 1996, the Taliban attacked many Hazara-populated villages including his district the Khas Uruzgan. In December 1998, he was born in the Khas Uruzgan district. He was a newborn baby when in 1998, the Taliban abducted his sister Sharifa. His father was shot in his jaw while trying to stop the Taliban.

“My father survived, but my sister disappeared. Since that day, we have not heard of her.”

Love Story

After that incident, his family fled to Quetta, Pakistan to save their life because the Taliban are known to target those who survive their previous attack. Mahdi grew up in Pakistan as a stateless person.

Besides going to school, he used to work as a tailor to support the family. When he was in 7^th grade at school, he met a girl named Masooma. They fell in love and decided to get married, but Masooma’s family was against their decision.

The Way

Knowing that it would never be possible for them to live together in Pakistan, in September 2017, Mahdi and Masooma escaped to Afghanistan. From Kandahar, they were going to Kabul by bus, and on the way, they were stopped by the Taliban. The members of the Taliban pulled two Hazara men out of the bus and wanted to see if there were more Hazaras there.

“It was the first time I saw members of the Taliban. They were armed and very dangerous.”

Suddenly, the Afghan police appeared and started firing on members of the Taliban. The bus driver found a chance and took the bus out of there. Mahdi and Masooma were so lucky to reach Kabul safely. Mahdi received several phone calls from Masooma’s family who had been threatening to kill him and Masooma both. Afghanistan was not a safe option for them too, so they decided to go to a safe country. Mahdi arranged for a people smuggler, and then they both flew to New Delhi, India. From there, they went to Malaysia and then on to Bandung, Indonesia by plane in October 2017.

Life in Indonesia

After arriving in Jakarta, they registered themselves with the UNHCR on October 19, 2017, and started living in Bogor. On March 15, 2018, Mahdi and Masooma got legally married, and on November 28, 2022, they both were blessed with a beautiful daughter whom they named Saara.

As refugees, Mahdi and Masooma cannot get proper education, work, drive and travel to another city. Despite facing such restrictions, Masooma helped her refugee fellows by teaching them English voluntarily at Help Learning Centre in Cisarua Bogor. Their dream is to see their daughter getting a proper education which is not possible while living in Indonesia.

An Opportunity

There is a way for them to resettle in a beautiful country like Canada where they can have access to their basic human rights.

Since Mahdi, his wife Masooma and their daughter Saara are officially certified as refugees by the UNHCR – unlike the vast majority of the world’s refugees – they qualify for Canada’s private sponsorship program.

If you would like to sponsor them – or if you’re just interested in helping to bring them here – please contact their friend Stephen Watt on Facebook.

You can reach out to Mahdi directly on Facebook – or through WhatsApp: +62 815-1456-3331.

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

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