Name: Reza Forozan

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, excellent English skills, experienced volunteer teacher and interpreter, FULLY FUNDED.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

Reza’s father was abducted by the Taliban and he was also at the risk of being taken by them. His mother sent him to Indonesia by boat in 2014 to save his life.

While living in uncertainty about his future in Indonesia, he has been volunteering as a teacher and interpreter for his refugee fellows. His hope now is to find a group of Canadian friends who can help him come to Canada where he can start his life again.

Abducted

Reza Forozan was born on June 9, 1997 in a village in Dawlat Yar district in Ghor 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. Reza was a hard-working farmer, helping his father take care of their land. In 2014, the Taliban wanted to take over the land, so they sent threatening letters multiple times to Reza’s family to give up on their land, but his father refused to give up their ancestral land because he did not have anywhere else to go with his family.

The refusal made the Taliban angry and they abducted Reza’s father at night in mid of September 2014. When Reza’s mother heard about what had happened to her husband, she immediately sent Reza to his uncle’s home in Herat by a taxi.

“My mother was worried about me because I was at the risk of getting kidnapped by the Taliban just like my father.”

His Journey

Reza’s uncle arranged for a people smuggler while Reza was staying hiddenly in Herat. After his passport got ready in September 2014, he flew from Herat to New Delhi, India. From there, he went to Malaysia by plane and then on to Pekanbaru Indonesia by boat on October 14, 2014.

Life as a Refugee

In Pekanbaru, he went to the immigration centre to ask for assistance and he was registered with the UNHCR in October 2014. The immigration authorities transferred Reza to a hotel where he helped his refugee fellows as a volunteer English teacher. Also, he was a volunteer translator for taking refugees to the hospital. After 11 months, he was transferred to a detention centre in Pontianak on September 8, 2015.

“I was completely confused. Instead of helping me, they had put me into a prison without any explanation.”

The detention centre was not facilitated and life was very hard there but Reza kept himself busy attending free online classes and praying. He was always hopeful.

Helping Others

After spending 38 months inside the detention centre, Reza was freed and transferred to a community house in Batam in June 2018.

"Even though I was free to go around this time, there were tons of rules that prevented me from my basic human rights. I started feeling like this was just another detention centre but a bigger one.”

During his stay in Batam, Reza always helped his refugee fellows and the local community by teaching them English, Bahasa and basic acoustic guitar. He believes that people can find relief by listening to and playing musical instruments.

Last Word

Since Reza Forozan 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, another good thing about him is that he is FULLY FUNDED.

"I believe that being useful for human beings in different ways is the key to life, I'm committed to stay that way. "

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 also reach out to Reza directly on Facebook – or by email: rrezaei0912@gmail.com – or through WhatsApp: +62-895-6312-87171.

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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