Name: Tawoos Ghulami

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

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

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

After finding some books and other school materials from his father’s car, the Taliban arrested Tawoos and his father on the way from Ghazni to Jaghori. They beat and tortured both of them as well. However, his father found an opportunity and made his son escape from there while sacrificing his own life.

Tawoos fled to Indonesia by boat in 2014.

He lived for 4 years inside a detention centre, and he misses his family whom he has not met for 7 years.

His hope now is to find five friends who can help him come to Canada where he can live freely, pursue his education and help society.

His Story

Tawoos Ghulami was born on January 1, 1998 in a village of the Jaghori district in Ghazni 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. Tawoos’ father had a car and he used to transport goods from Kabul and Ghazni to his village for the shopkeepers there.

In September 2014, his father took him to an eye care professional in Kabul because his weaving was weak. As suggested by the doctor, he got eyeglasses and decided to return home with his father. When they arrived in Ghazni, the principal of Tawoos’ school met them. He gave some school materials to Tawoos’ father and told him to take them to school in Jaghori.

Intercepted

While being on the way, the Taliban stopped his father’s car in the area named Dasht-e-Qarabagh. After they searched the car and found the school materials, they blindfolded Tawoos and his father and took them to an unknown place.

“It was so scary for us because the Taliban has been enemy of education. After a while, they started beating and torturing us.”

After a few hours of being locked in a room, his father decided to escape from there. They both jumped out through the window and his father told him to run in a direction and warned him not to look back.

“I started running for my life, and while running I heard gunshots. As my father told me not to stop running and he would come after me, so I kept running for about 2 hours and I reached a highway”

Leaving Home

Tawoos asked for help from a car driver and escaped to Ghazni. From there he went to Kabul and told everything to his father’s friend who was living in Kabul. The friend of his father told him that he was no longer safe in Afghanistan and he had to leave the country immediately. He then arranged for a people smuggler, and on October 9, Tawoos flew to New Delhi, India where he stayed for 1 day. The next day he went to Malaysia by air and stayed there for 1 day. On October 13, 2014 he arrived in Pekanbaru, Indonesia by boat and from there, he was moved to Jakarta by car on October 15.

His Life in Indonesia

On October 21, 2014 he registered himself at the UNHCR office in Jakarta. With no right to work or way to support himself, he made his way to Balikpapan Immigration Centre to ask for assistance. On November 7, 2014, he was transferred to a detention centre in Balikpapan where he waited for more than 4 years. On November 15, 2018, he received his freedom and was transferred to a community house in Makassar. Since then, he has been living there without having access to his basic human rights.

His Concerns

Since the Taliban have taken over Afghanistan, Tawoos has become more worried for his family who is stuck there.

“It has been more than 7 long years I have been far away from my family. There is no way left for me except waiting with uncertain time. I sincerely request from kind-hearted people to take my hand and get me out of this situation.”

As a UNHCR refugee, Tawoos Ghulami is eligible for Canada’s private sponsorship program. He needs a group of five Canadian friends to support him.

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

You can also reach out to Tawoos Ghulami directly on Facebook.

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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