Name: Shafigheh and her two daughters

Profile: Hazara refugees from Afghanistan, living in Iran.

Advantages: Good English skills, educated, Political-Economist journalist, Human rights activist, social activist.

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

Shafigheh was a human rights activist, journalist and filmmaker in Afghanistan. She always encouraged women to get education and succeed in life but she was attacked by an unknown armed group and then she was threatened many times. As a result, she was forced to flee to Iran in January 2021.

Like other refugees, she can’t have the freedom to work as a journalist in Iran. She needs now to be helped by a group of five Canadian friends who can bring her and her two daughters to Canada where she can freely work as a journalist and her daughters can get proper education.

Her Story

Shafigheh Alizadeh was born on April 30, 1986 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.

Like many other Hazaras, shafigheh moved to Iran and started living as a refugee with her two daughters. As she was graduated from Political-Economic Journalism, she wanted to work as a journalist, but refugees in Iran have so many limitations and Shafigheh didn’t have the freedom to work as a journalist.

“I decided to return to Afghanistan to work in my country and help women and children for having their rights”

Also, she had an idea of making a documentary film called Peace and Children’s Perspective.

While living in Afghanistan, Shafigheh had many activities like human rights activity, civic activity and social activity.

Attacked

She was also filming the documentary Peace and Children’s Perspective. One day in 2020, an armed group attacked them. The armed group stole all their equipment and phones, and they threatened to kill Shafigheh.

“Since I was in charge of the group, they threatened me that they would kill me in case I hadn’t stopped filming. They said that they could never let a woman work, especially as a journalist or filmmaker. Again, I was stopped from dreaming and having freedom”

As the armed group’s thought was that women had to be a mother and a housewife, not someone who worked, they kept threatening Shafigheh by contacting her through the phone. The threatening attacks forced her to flee to Iran in January 2021.

Her Life Now

Since then, she has been living in a difficult situation there as there are no Civil rights and social services for Afghanis. On the other hand, she has temporary residency documents which means that the Iranian government can decide not to extend her stay anymore and deport her back to Afghanistan.

The Only Way

Shafigheh’s only option to be able to work as a journalist and move forward with her life is to find a group of citizens to bring her and her two daughters to Canada.

They are eligible for Canada’s private sponsorship program. All they need is a group of five Canadian friends to support them.

To help support Shafigheh and her two daughters as a sponsor, please contact Stephen Watt on Facebook.

You can also reach out to Shafigheh 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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