Name: Mohammad Reza Hussaini

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, good English skills.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

watsApp No : +62 895-1201-6842

After Mohammad Reza’s father got missing, he got a threatening letter from the Taliban in which he was told to give his father to them or else he would be killed. He had no way left, so he fled to Indonesia by boat in October 2014.

Despite facing a number of problems inside the detention centre in Indonesia, he kept himself busy Learning English and doing exercise. Also, he helped many other refugees in being strong and not giving up in their hard times.

He hopes now to find five Canadian friends who can bring him to Canada where he can pursue his passion and be helpful to his family and society.

His Early Life

Mohammad Reza Hussaini was born on January 1, 1999 in a village of the Jaghori district in Ghazni province in Afghanistan. His father was a farmer, and due to some stomach disease, he used to go to the city of Ghazni to visit his doctor.

In 2013, his father went to Ghazni as usual and contacted his mother from there, and told her that he would return the next day.

“The next day, we waited the whole day for his arrival but he didn’t show up and neither could we contact him.”

Reza’s father was missing, so he went to the local representative and asked him to help in finding his father. The local representative promised to do his best in finding Reza’s father.

“I started trying to contact my father every day but his cell phone was off and out of reach. Also, I was visiting the local representative every day to hear any news of my father but all he could tell me was to wait.”

Weeks turned into months and months into the year but there was no sign of Reza’s father.

One day in 2014, Reza returned to his home from school, and he found his mother crying. When asked the reason, her mother replied with a muffled voice that the local representative had handed over a letter to his mother which had been sent by the Taliban.

Inside The Letter

The letter was written in the Pashto language, so Reza and his mother took the letter to their neighbor who could translate that for them.

In the letter, the Taliban had threatened Reza and told him that if he didn’t bring his father to the Taliban or the information about his father’s whereabouts, he would be killed.

“The threatening letter made us scared which led my mother to decide to send me out of Afghanistan.”

His Journey to Indonesia

On the same night, Reza fled to Kabul where he arranged for a people smuggler and stayed for 4 days. On October 16, 2014 he flew from Kabul to New Delhi, India and stayed there for 4 days, and then he flew to Malaysia where he stayed for 6 days. On October 25, 2014 he and other refugees were loaded into a crowded boat that headed towards Indonesia.

“It was dark everywhere and I was very scared.”

He arrived in Pekanbaru, Indonesia on October 26, 2014. After 3 days, he arrived in Jakarta, and he registered himself with the UNHCR office on October 29, 2014.

His Life in the Detention Centre

After living for a month in Cisarua, Bogor, he ran out of money and he didn’t have any financial supporter, so he moved to Pekanbaru to seek IOM assistance, and for that, he had to surrender himself to Immigration.

He was detained with 40 other detainees in a room where the sanitary condition was bad. Some detainees had skin diseases and were deprived of medical care.

“I couldn’t sleep at night there because I was the only teenage and everything around me looked weird.”

After a month, Reza was transferred to an open detention centre where he had to live with more than 100 people having access to one toilet and one bathroom. Most of the time, they didn’t have water which resulted in skin diseases and other illnesses.

One of the detainees, who became Reza’s friend, got sick in the detention centre and lost his life due to constant negligence from authorities.

“He used to sleep meters away from me. When I remember him, I sometimes think that it could have been me.”

Regardless of the bad and unfavorable conditions there, Reza pushed himself to stay positive. He began learning English and investing his time in running to keep himself healthy because he believes that a healthy mind requires a healthy body and that was the affirmation and mantra he kept murmuring to himself day in and day out.

“Since I had suffered a lot in that pit of hell, I didn’t want any other newcomer to feel the same, so I whatever way possible, shared my food with newcomers, talked to them about the positive side of life and made them feel welcome although it was not home.”

His Life Now

Finally, Reza got his freedom from the detention centre and was transferred to a community house in Makassar in February 2016. His journey of living in the detention centre was finished, though he has been facing challenges because of being deprived of his basic rights.

He has been using his time in positive activities like, doing self-study to level up his knowledge and doing exercise to stay healthy.

His Hopes and Dreams

Reza hopes to resettle in a peaceful country where he can help his family in getting to a safe place. He wants to be a professional mechanic and electric technician in the future.

“I believe that I can do much better in these two fields because they are my passions. I hope to have the opportunity to pursue their courses and rise to the top one day.”

The Opportunity

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

To help support Reza as a sponsor, please contact Stephen Watt on Facebook.

You can also reach out to Reza directly on Facebook.

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