Names: Rajab Ali Mohammadi, his wife Laila, their elder son Ameer Ali (18) and daughter Mones (15).

Profile: Rahab Ali is a Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia and his family is living in Iran.

Advantages: UN Certified, Rajab Ali is a talented Afghan bread baker, his wife is a skilled tailor, their son Ameer is a University student and their daughter Mones is a high school student, Ameer and Mones can speak English fluently.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

Rajab Ali Mohammadi, a Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, shares a poignant tale of displacement and separation. Forced to flee due to persecution, Rajab faces the constant threat of torture and death if returned home. His wife, Laila, and children, Ameer and Mones, struggle in Iran without legal documentation. Rajab, a talented Afghan bread baker, dreams of resettling in a safe country to reunite with his family.

The heart-wrenching reality of missing his children's growth weighs heavily on him. Certified by UNHCR, Rajab now hopes to find a group of five Canadian friends who can help bring him and his family to safety.

Why He Left His Country

Rajab was born in January 1975, in the Jaghori district in Ghazni Province in Afghanistan. The Hazara people of the region have long been targets of persecution and massacres because of their culture, religion, and love for education. Rajab’s father had farming land and, he used to work as a farmer with his father. There was a man in the village named Juma Khan who had power and wanted to take over the lands of Rajab’s father. One day in 1992, Juma Khan and his men attacked Rajab’s father and killed him on the land. As an elder son of his father, Rajab was also threatened to leave the village or he would be killed. Rajab had no way but to leave the country.

Life in Iran

In the year 1992, Rajab’s mother sent him to Tehran, Iran illegally where he started working as a bag maker. Despite having no legal status in the country, he was happy that at least he was safe there. In the year 2003, he married an Afghan girl named Laila in Tehran.

Back to Afghanistan

Afghan refugees in Iran were being persecuted by the Iranian Police. One day in 2012, Rajab was at work when some Iranian police came and arrested him and his Afghan colleagues due to not having legal status in the country. Eventually, he was deported to Herat, Afghanistan.

“I was so lost thinking about my family who were left in Iran, and I was not able to figure out any way to return to them.”

Believing that circumstances might have changed over the years, Rajab returned to Jaghori. Unfortunately, Juma Khan learned about his return. A few days later, Juma Khan threatened Rajab again to leave the country, or he would cooperate with the Taliban to kill Rajab. Knowing that he would be killed, Rajab went back to Tehran, Iran via the dangerous illegal way.

His Journey

As an Afghan refugee, Rajab knew that he did not have any future in Iran nor he could return to Afghanistan. So, he decided to seek a safe country to resettle and reunite with his family there one day.

Rajab arranged for a people smuggler who made travel documents for him to leave Iran. He then flew from Tehran, Iran, to Istanbul, Turkey in January 2012, and stayed at a people smuggler's home for about 20 days. From there, he went to Jakarta, Indonesia by plane in January 2012, and he registered himself with the UNHCR on January 25, 2012. He then started living in Cisarua, Bogor.

Life in Limbo

Despite not having the right to work or way to support himself in Indonesia, he started baking Afghan bread for his refugee fellows.

In July 2019, Rajab moved in front of the UNHCR to ask for assistance. He and other refugees were then transferred to an open camp in Kalideres, Jakarta. Since then, he has been living there, and has been busy baking bread for his refugee fellows to support himself financially.

A Father’s Ache

Rajab has been very worried for his wife Laila and his children Ameer Ali and Mones who are living in Iran without legal documentation. He says:

“When I came to Indonesia, hoping to resettle in a safe country and bring my family there, my son Ameer was 7 years old and my daughter Mones was only 4 years old. Now my son is 18 and my daughter is 15. For a father, not being able to see his children growing up is the most painful feeling in life.”

Rajab’s wife has been taking care of the family since 2012. She has been working hard as a tailor to support her kids. This family is at risk of being deported to Afghanistan due to a lack of documentation. Now that the Taliban have been ruling Afghanistan, his family cannot survive if they are deported there.

It is Time! 

It is time for Rajab to resettle in a safe country where he can reunite with his family and live a life with freedom.

Since Rajab is officially certified as a refugee by the UNHCR – unlike the vast majority of the world’s refugees – he and his family qualify for Canada’s private sponsorship program.

If you would like to sponsor this beautiful family – 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 Rajab Ali Mohammadi directly on Facebook.

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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