Name: Karimi

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, Good English skills, Volunteer interpreter, Representative of his community.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

After Karimi's elder sister lost her child, Karimi and his family came to know that she had been tortured by her husband. Karimi’s family divorced her, but her husband beat and tortured Karimi twice, and reported to the Taliban about him, so the Taliban captured and tortured Karimi. Fortunately, he escaped from their hand and fled to Indonesia in 2014.

Since then, he has been living his life in limbo, though he has been helping refugees in every possible way.

He hopes now to find five Canadian friends who can help him start his life again.

His Story

Karimi was born on February 10, 1997 in a village in the Jaghori district of Ghazni province in Afghanistan.

In 2014, his elder sister got married to Safdar Sadiqi. Safdar Sadiqi’s family had power in the village. By the time, Safdar became addicted to drugs, and he started beating and torturing Karimi’s sister every day. His sister was helpless. She couldn’t tell anyone because she was threatened to death by her husband nor she could commit suicide because she was pregnant. Then, she lost her baby due to being badly tortured, and her family came to know about what she had been going through. Karimi’s sister told her family to save her from her husband otherwise she would commit suicide.

When Safdar came to Karimi’s home, Karimi asked him the reason for torturing his sister. He attacked Karimi and started beating him. By the shouting of Karimi’s family, their neighbors came and finished the fight. Safdar threatened Karimi in front of everyone that he would kill all the family members of Karimi. The next day, Karimi’s father and some elders of the village went to his home and got his daughter’s divorce.

“We became so happy that we freed her.”

Tortured and Beaten

But, ten days later, when Karimi was at his shop, Safdar and his 3 friends came and started beating him till people came and stopped them. Karimi asked him the reason for being attacked by them, and Safdar continued warning him that next time they would kill him.

Now Karimi and his family started living with fear.

Captured by the Taliban

A few days later, Karimi went to Kabul to bring supplies for his shop. While returning to Jaghori, some members of the Taliban stopped his car and pointed only him to come out of the car. Then, the Taliban told other passengers to go on their way, they begged to let Karimi go as well, but the Taliban shouted at them and threatened them.

“I was trembling with fear, the Taliban tied up my hands and blindfolded me and put me in a car.”

After driving for about 1 hour, their car stopped at an unknown place where they searched Karimi and found his ID card and his card of English Language course. They started calling him infidel, and they tortured him until he fainted.

Escaping to Kabul

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a ruined room, and after sometimes, a Pashtun woman opened the door, untied him, and told him in her language to run.

It was dark near morning; he ran for 2 hours and reached a road where a car drove him to Kabul. He called my family from Kabul and told them what had happened to him. His family told him not to return to Jaghori and leave Afghanistan immediately to stay safe.

The Way to Indonesia

He arranged for a people smuggler with the help of the hotel’s owner.

On February 2, 2014 he flew to New Delhi, India, and stayed there for 18 days. Then, he flew to Singapore on February 20, where he had transit for 12 hours, and he arrived in Surabaya, Indonesia by flight on February 21. He came to Jakarta and registered himself at the UNHCR office on February 25, 2014.

His Life in Limbo

Karimi studied Bahasa (Indonesian Language) at JRS (Jersuit Refugee Services) which is in Cisarua, Bogor. Since then, he has been a volunteer interpreter for refugees.

With no right to work or way to support himself in Indonesia, he moved in front of the UNHCR office and asked them for help. In July 2019, he and other refugees were transferred to an unfacilitated building in Kalideres, Jakarta where he has been a representative of 200 refugees.

Karimi helps his community in every way.

“I feel very bad for children here because they don't have any facility to study and have a bright future.”

The Last Word

Refugees in Indonesia have been told by the UNHCR that they will most likely never be resettled. This is especially true for single men, as women and families are prioritized for UNHCR sponsored resettlement. Integration in Indonesia is also not an option. Indonesia is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention so refugees’ rights are not protected, hence they cannot work or access formal education. They live in a state of permanent limbo: they cannot go back nor move forward

Karimi says:

“We don't have any other way but to bear the situation which is very painful.”

An opportunity

As a UNHCR refugee, Karimi is eligible for Canada’s private sponsorship program. He needs a group of five Canadian friends to support him.

To help support Karimi as a sponsor, please contact his friend Stephen Watt on Facebook.

You can also reach out to Karimi directly by Facebook.

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

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