Name: Reza Rezaie

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, excellent English skills, fluent Bahasa Indonesia speaker, experienced welder, FULLY FUNDED.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

After his father was taken by some armed Pashtun men, his family members were threatened to be killed any time soon. To save their lives, his family moved to Iran where they did not have legal documents to stay. Unfortunately, Reza was deported to Afghanistan in 2014, and he knew that he would be killed if he stayed in Afghanistan, so he fled to Indonesia by boat.

Reza was detained in a detention centre for more than 3 years. Despite facing such difficulties, he kept learning English and Bahasa Indonesia. Now, he has been helping his refugee fellows as an interpreter. He is an experienced welder and he deserves to be resettled in a country where he can work, contribute to society and live with freedom. He hopes to find a group of five Canadian friends who can help him start a new life in Canada.

Childhood

Reza was born on Oct 1, 1997 in the Malistan district in Ghazni province in Afghanistan. He had a joyful family with full of happiness, and he had a dream to study and become an engineer in the future. His father and uncle used to work as threshers in a town called Daya which was populated by Pashtuns. 

Background

The Hazara people of the region have long been targets of persecution and massacres because of their culture, religion, and love for education. In 2008, Reza’s uncle Qambar fell in love with a Pashtun girl. When his father came to know about this, he advised Qambar to be careful because Pashtuns would never allow their daughter to get married to a Hazara man. Listening to his advice, Reza’s uncle Qambar got intensely distraught.

Two weeks later, Reza’s father went to Daya where the Pashtun girl was living. He went to her home to ask for a marriage proposal from her father. The Pashtun girl’s father laughed at him and said that he would never allow his daughter to marry a Hazara ethnic. He also threatened Reza’s father not to speak of this nonsense or else, his brother Qambar would face consequences.

After returning home, Reza’s father told everything to Qambar. The next year in 2009, the Pashtun man called Reza’s father and told him to return to Daya and start working as a thresher. Before going to work, his father told Qambar to be careful and not to make any mistake there. 10 days later, Reza’s father sent his brother Qambar back to home, but instead, Qambar had planned to flee with the Pashtun girl. At that night, the Pashtun man approached Reza’s father and ask where Qambar was. His father said that he had returned home. The next morning, the Pashtun man brought his father to his home and started searching for Qambar. When he did not find him, he dragged Reza’s father out of the car and asked if he had a daughter in return. During that time, the people of the village gathered and said to the Pashtun man that Reza’s father did not have any daughter. The Pashtun man then started forcing and trying to take Reza’s mother in return of his daughter. Luckily, the disturbance and inference of the people did not let him succeed. Finally, the Pashtun man took Reza’s father with himself and gave a week to his mother to find Qambar, or else he would kill the entire family of Reza.

“I was only 12 years old and I can never forget what happened to my father.”

Leaving Home

Reza’s mother told his maternal uncle what had happened. His uncle said that they could never find Qambar. So, they were advised to flee to save their lives, or they all would have been killed along Reza’s father who was already in the Pashtun man’s captivity.

In the year 2009, Reza’s family fled to Tehran, Iran illegally. Reza worked very hard as a construction worker and welder in Iran. Due to not having legal status to stay in the country, he could not study, and one day, he got arrested and deported to Herat, Afghanistan by Iranian police in 2014.

                      “I was humiliated in Iran and Afghanistan,”

What Happened Back in Afghanistan

To go back to Iran, Reza arranged for a people smuggler, but he was told to wait for a month since the way was not so good at that time. He then thought to visit his village Malistan for a week.

“I was thinking that I would not be in danger while visiting my hometown after about 5 years.”

After, he visited his village, he was invited to his friend’s home for a dinner. When he was there, his friend went outside. After a while, he came back slowly and told Reza in a low voice that Reza’s house was surrounded by armed Pashtun men. After Reza went hiddenly and saw that scene with his own eyes, he fled to another village at that night. The next morning, he went to Kabul. When he contacted his mother and shared everything with her, she told him to leave the country immediately or he would be captured and killed. She then arranged for a people smuggler to send Reza to a safe country.

The Way

On July 20, 2014, he flew from Kabul to New Delhi, India and stayed there for 12 days. From there, he went to Malaysia by plane and stayed there for about 9 days. On August 10, 2014, he was brought to Pekanbaru, Indonesia by boat.

Life in a state of Limbo

From Pekanbaru, Reza traveled to Tanjung Pinang by land. With no right to work or way to support himself, he went to Tanjung Pinang Immigration Centre to ask for assistance. After a few days, Reza and 24 other refugees were put inside the immigration centre in a small room where they were behaved crucially and humiliated like a criminal by the immigration authorities. They did not have enough water to bath, enough food to eat, and enough space to sleep. After three months of being detained, they were transferred to a detention centre in Tanjung Pinang on November 11, 2014, where they were locked up and not allowed to go outside. While living there, he spent his time learning English and Indonesian language, and doing exercise regularly. But due to lack of facilities, he could not continue his studies. On February 2, 2015, he was registered with the UNHCR inside the detention centre. 

“Living in the Detention center was very hard and unbearable. I was always sitting behind the bars of the window and I wished to feel free, like it is said that the freedom is the oxygen of the soul.”

After more than 3 years of living inside the detention centre, Reza was freed and transferred to a community house on January 30, 2018. Since then, he has been living there.

Injured

As a refugee, Reza cannot get proper education, work and even travel to another city. Despite facing such restrictions, he continued doing exercises to stay fit and healthy. Since he speaks fluent Bahasa Indonesia, he has been volunteering as an interpreter for his refugee fellows.

One day in 2021, Reza fell down and injured his shoulder. He went through a surgery too, and since that time, he has been suffering from his shoulder pain. By the assistance of IOM, he has been taking medicines too, but they are low quality and not so effective. Due to his shoulder injuries, he cannot continue his exercises too.

The Only Way!

Since Reza does not have access to his basic human rights in Indonesia, he cannot have a future here nor he can return to Afghanistan. The only way for him to live with freedom is to be resettled in a safe country like Canada.

As a UNHCR refugee, Reza is eligible for Canada’s private sponsorship program. All he needs is to be sponsored by a group of five Canadian friends.  No fundraising is needed.

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

You can also reach out to Reza Rezaie directly on Facebook – or through WhatsApp: +62 831-8445-2819.

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

Thank you for your support. And help spread the word by sharing this post!