Name: Salman Hassani

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, good English skills, experienced construction worker, FULLY FUNDED.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

While being attacked by the Taliban, Salman lost his brother and he was their next target, but he survived that attack and escaped to Pakistan and then to Indonesia by boat in 2014.

In Indonesia, he spent more than 3 years inside a detention centre where he worked hard and learned the English language. He has been dreaming of a life with freedom, and he needs a group of friends who can bring him to Canada where he can live freely and reunite with his family one day who is left in a dangerous situation in Afghanistan.

Hometown

Salman Hassani was born in January 1990, in a village of the Khas Uruzgan district in Uruzgan province in Afghanistan. The majority of the population in Uruzgan is the Pashtun people and most of them are part of the Taliban regime or they have a soft corner for them.

With the help of his father and after selling some parts of their land, Salman and his brother bought a bulldozer and started working in construction. They had been working on different projects in Uruzgan building schools, roads and working with foreigners.

The Hazara people of the region have long been targets of persecution and massacres. The systemic discrimination has been a feature in Afghanistan throughout history and the ongoing genocide is still a cruel fact of life in this area.

One of the things that sets the Hazara people apart, beside their language, culture and religion (Shia, rather than Sunni Islam) is their stronger respect for education and the rights of women.

Threatened

In 2014, Salman and his brother were working on projects in a Foreign Army Camp in Uruzgan. They were building a swimming pool inside the camp and a school at the centre of Uruzgan. Due to working with foreigners, they both were threatened many times by the Taliban and Pashtun leaders.

“I was concerned about the threats we had been receiving, but my brother told me that we were general workers and nobody was going to harm us.”

In Early October 2014, Salman and his brother were busy working when his brother’s acquaintance came and informed them that their lives were in danger and the Taliban had been looking around for them.

“We knew that the Taliban could do whatever they wanted in Uruzgan, so we decided to escape to our village.”

Losing his Brother

While being on the way back to their village, their car was ambushed and attacked by the Taliban.

“We were inside the car when my brother was shot several times. The last thing he told me was “run and save your life.”. I was not shot because I was in the backseat.”

Salman’s brother was killed at the spot, and Salman jumped in the water canal which was beside the road. He ran in the other direction inside the fields where the trees covered him and he was not seen while running. After a few hours, he was helped by a car driver who dropped him in Sangi Masha, Jaghori.

Leaving Home

“I left the body of my brother behind and could not see my parents for the last time, because with the passing time, the risk of losing my life was being increased.”

Salman had enough money with himself to flee to the neighboring country Pakistan, so he fled there the next day. After contacting his family from Quetta, Pakistan, he came to know that the Taliban had been looking for him in the whole village and they had come to his home as well. He was told by his parents not to return or else, he would be killed.

After his father sent some money, he arranged for a people smuggler with the help of his friend. Then he flew from Karachi to Sri Lanka and then on to Malaysia. From there, he and some other refugees were brought to Indonesia by boat on October 12, 2014.

Inside the Cage

After arriving in Jakarta, Salman registered himself at the UNHCR office in Jakarta on October 14, 2014 and stayed in Bogor. Due to not having the right to work or way to support himself in Indonesia, he went to Makassar Immigration Centre to ask for assistance. He spent almost 2 months under the sky with no roof.

“When it was raining during the nights, we did not have even a proper place to take shelter.”

In 2015, Salman was transferred to a detention centre in Makassar where he learned English, worked hard day and night, and studied until 5^th grade with the help of his refugee fellows. Also, he had been an active volleyball player there. But, thinking about his family who was left in Afghanistan, he used to get frustrated.

“I am the only hope of my family, but I am like a bird who is stuck inside a cage with the hope of getting freedom and living my life one day.”

Freedom

After spending more than 3 years inside the detention centre, Salman received his freedom and was transferred to a community house in August 2018.

“I was happy thinking that I would be able to live freely but I still do not have any rights and freedom of an ordinary citizen.”

Hopes and Dreams

Salman has been dreaming of becoming an engineer from a young age, but he could not study due to the unsafe situation in Afghanistan. He has seen his school blown up in front of his eyes and he had no way to get education there.

He hopes his children to live a life with freedom in the future, not like him who had been living in fear and danger.

“I wish to see my children getting education and contributing to the country they will be living in, and I hope to be helped by humanitarian friends to start my life in Canada.”

The Only Way

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

Salman 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 Salman is that he is FULLY FUNDED

If you would like to sponsor Salman – 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 Salman directly on Facebook – or by email: salman.hassani2016@gmail.com or WhatsApp: +62 89659910504

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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