Name: Samiullah Abbasi

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-certified, excellent English skills, experienced mechanic, can speak Bahasa Indonesia and Dari.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

Due to working at a school, Samiullah’s father was captured by the Taliban. Sensing danger, he fled to Indonesia by boat to save his life in 2014.

It has been a decade since he has been living in a state of limbo. Despite facing various challenges, he has been keeping himself busy improving his English and computer skills. His hope now is to find a group of five Canadian friends who can help him start a new life in Canada.

Early Life

Samiullah was born on January 1, 1995, in Jaghatu district in Ghazni province in Afghanistan. He used to go to Sanayi High School in the Jaghatu district. His father was a constructor. On September 20, 2014, his father started renovating the same school where Samiullah was studying. His father used to oversee workers who were working in the school. Besides going to school, Samiullah used to help his father too.

Attacked at Home

The Hazara people of the region have long been targets of persecution and massacres because of their culture, religion, and love for education. On October 26, 2014, Samiullah and his family were at their home, and someone knocked on their door. When his father opened the door, someone hit his father on the head with the back of a gun.

“My mother screamed and told me to run from the door behind the yard, and I did what my mother told me to do. I ran to a neighboring village where my friend Abdullah was living.”

After arriving at Abdullah’s home, he told him what had happened. The next day, Abdullah took him to his uncle’s home which was in Ghazni. Samiullah’s mother told him on the phone that his father had been abducted by the Taliban, and the Taliban had threatened that they would capture Samiullah too because he was also working with his father in renovating the school. His mother then cried and told him to leave the country and flee to a safe place.

The Way to Indonesia

After his uncle arranged for a people smuggler, Samiullah went to Kabul by car. On November 1, 2014, he flew from Kabul to New Delhi, India. From there, he went to Malaysia by plane and then on to Indonesia by boat on December 4, 2014.

  “Later on, I found out that my father had been killed by the Taliban.”

Detention Centre

After arriving in Jakarta, Samiullah went to Bogor. Before he could register himself with the UNHCR, the immigration authority captured him and transferred him to a detention centre in Tanjung Pinang on February 16, 2015. On February 20, he was registered with the UNHCR in the detention centre. Despite being detained there without committing any crime, he kept himself busy learning English and computer skills from other refugee volunteers. Also, he kept motivating himself by exercising, playing football and reading books. 

His Life Now

After spending 38 months inside the detention centre, Samiullah received his freedom and was transferred to a community house in Tanjung Pinang.

“I was so glad thinking that I was free, but I then realized that I and other refugees there were not permitted to be outside from 6 PM to 6 AM.”

As a refugee, Samiullah cannot get proper education, work, drive and even open a bank account. Having no access to his basic human rights is stressful for him, but he has been busy with positive activities like reading books, exercising and learning computer skills.

His Dreams

Samiullah’s dream is to resettle in a safe country where he can work, support his family and live with freedom. He says:

“It has been a decade since I have been living in limbo. I want to live in a country I can call home and contribute to society.”

It is possible! Since Samiullah 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.

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 reach out to Samiullah directly on Facebook – or by email: ibbiabbasi6@gmail.com – or through WhatsApp: +62 831-8494-8568.

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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