Names: Zaman Rafiq, his wife, Elisa and their child Farrel Rafiq.

Profile: Zaman is a Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, his wife is an Indonesian lady, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: Zaman is UN-certified, has good English skills, experienced tiler and cook. Elisa is a high school graduate, fluent in Bahasa Indonesia and English, educated, experienced retailer and cook.

Risk: At risk of being tortured and killed by the Taliban if returned home, and at the risk of religious persecution in Indonesia due to marrying Elisa whose family is from the Sunni majority.

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

After his father was killed by the Taliban, Zaman was their next target. To save his life, he fled to Pakistan, and then to Indonesia where he was kept inside a detention centre for a year.

He then married an Indonesian lady, Melisa and they have a cute son, Farrell. They are now at risk of religious persecution in Indonesia and need to seek a safe place. Their hope now is to find a group of Canadian friends who can rescue them and bring them to Canada.

His Story

Zaman was born in January 1994, in the Malistan district of the 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. On the other hand, Zaman’s father had been working for Care Afghanistan, one of the leading humanitarian international NGOs in Afghanistan. Besides going to school, Zaman used to help his father. His family had some land in the village, and his paternal uncle wanted to take over their land, so he reported to the Taliban about his father’s work with the NGO. Unfortunately, Zaman’s father was captured by the Taliban on the way from Malistan to Ghazni, and he was then beheaded.

“I was only 12 years old when my father was killed by the Taliban.”

Since Zaman had helped his father, he was the next target of the Taliban. Knowing that he was at risk of being killed, his mother sent him to Quetta, Pakistan in 2005.

Seeking a Safe Country

About two months later, he heard that his mother had passed away in Afghanistan. He could not make a future in Pakistan, because he had no legal status to stay in the country. On the other hand, the situation of Hazaras in Pakistan is also not safe. There were many attacks on the Hazara people in those days. Since he could not return to Afghanistan either, he decided to flee to Indonesia.

After he arranged for a people smuggler, he flew from Pakistan to Malaysia by plane and then on to Indonesia by boat in July 2013.

Life in Indonesia

After arriving in Jakarta, he registered himself with the UNHCR on July 10, 2013. With no right to work or way to support himself in Indonesia, he went to Makassar Immigration Centre to ask for assistance. He was then transferred to a detention centre in Makassar on August 13, 2013. The detention centre was overcrowded and badly ventilated. Refugees faced many challenges like, lack of food, water and proper medical care.

After about a year, Zaman was freed from the detention centre and was transferred to a community house in Makassar on July 5, 2014.

Love Story

In 2017, Zaman fell in love with Elisa, an Indonesian lady and they got married. They were then blessed with a cute baby boy whom they named Farrell.

As a refugee, Zaman cannot get proper education, work, drive and travel to another city. He is now a family man, but he cannot work and support his family.

“My whole life, I faced tragic incidents, and now I want to live with my family and work for them.”

His wife, Elisa is the sole breadwinner of the family. Zaman even is not allowed to live with his family. He can only visit his wife and child three times a week. If he does not comply with immigration rules which do not let him work and live with his family, he will be put into jail.

They are in Danger in Indonesia

About 99% of Indonesia’s population is Sunni, Muslim. In 2021, Elisa’s family came to know that Zaman is Shia, Muslim and since then, he has been seen as an outcast and hated for being different. Elisa’s family started threatening him to leave Elisa and Indonesia. He has been threatened consistently through Facebook, WhatsApp and verbally, and he even was beaten. Since he is no more safe in Indonesia, he asked IOM, UNHCR and local authorities several times to give him protection, but they have not taken responsibility.

“I and my family live in fear of being targeted through the hate that exists in society for Shia Muslims because we are seen as “uncleaned”.”

Their Skills

Zaman can speak five languages, Urdu, Persian, Arabic, and Indonesian, and is currently learning to write and speak in English. He has previously worked with CARE International in Afghanistan. His wife, Elisa speaks fluent English and Bahasa Indonesia. She has worked as a retailer. Also, she has worked at Jakarta International Airport and for Honda selling cars. Currently, she is making a living from selling food to refugees in Makassar.

On marrying Zaman in 2017, Elisa found herself estranged from her family due to religious intolerance. She says:

“I am very worried for my family since we are in grave danger.”

There is a way for this beautiful family to start a new life in a safe country like Canada where they can live with freedom and have a bright future.

Since Zaman is officially certified as a refugee by the UNHCR – unlike the vast majority of the world’s refugees – he and his family qualify for Canada’s private sponsorship program.

If you would like to sponsor them – or if you’re just interested in helping to bring them here – please contact their friend Stephen Watt on Facebook.

You can reach out to Zaman and Elisa directly on Facebook – or by email: elisarafiq04@gmail.com.

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

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