Name: Zia Fayazi

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

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

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

Canadian contact: Stephen Watt

Zia Fayazi, a Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, has been living in Indonesia since 2014 after escaping threats from the Taliban. Despite being certified as a refugee by the UNHCR, Zia has spent more than a decade in Indonesia where he has been deprived of his basic human rights.

He is an experienced stonemason and loves to learn new skills. He hopes now to find a group of five Canadian friends who can help him start a new life in Canada. 

Early Life

Zia was born in January 1997, in the Jaghori district in Ghazni province in Afghanistan. His father was a taxi driver on the way from Jaghori to Kabul. Zia was in the 9th grade when he decided to quit school to help his father support the family.

In early 2014, Zia’s father found him a job at Sirajuddin Restaurant located in Muqur district in Ghazni. There, he used to wash the dishes and sometimes deliver food to a local police checkpoint near the restaurant.

The Incident

The Hazara people of the region have long been targets of persecution and massacres because of their culture, religion, and love for education.

On August 7, 2024, while delivering food to the local police checkpoint, Zia was intercepted by some armed members of the Taliban with masks on their faces. They asked him where he was going with the food. When he said it was for the police, they contaminated the food with an unknown substance, placed a bag inside the food bag, and threatened him not to disclose the incident and to continue delivering the food.

The restaurant owner had previously cautioned Zia and his coworkers about not taking anything from strangers due to the presence of police and the Taliban in the area.

“I was terrified, and I threw the food bag along with the bag the Taliban had given me into a ditch.”

Zia informed a police officer at the checkpoint of the incident. The officer instructed him to return to the restaurant and, if questioned by the Taliban, to say he did what they wanted.

Fortunately, Zia did not encounter any members of the Taliban on his way back to the restaurant. Upon arriving at the restaurant, he heard a blast.

The Escape

Later on, he was busy cleaning a table when some local police came and asked him everything again. The local police also said that inside the bag the Taliban had given Zia was an explosive bomb. After the local police went back, the hotel owner got suspicious and hid Zia inside a room.

Around 11 PM that night, three armed individuals entered the restaurant and asked for Zia. After failing to find him, they went from there. The next morning, with the help of the restaurant owner, Zia went to Kabul by bus.

In Kabul, Zia stayed at a hotel whose owner was from his village. Later on, Zia contacted his father and told him what had happened. His father told him to go back home the next day. But later his dad called back and said, "Don't come back."

His father had learned from the restaurant owner that the Taliban had gone to Zia’s workplace, the restaurant, and beat his coworkers. They threatened the restaurant owner to reveal Zia's whereabouts. Even worse, they took Zia and his father's ID cards, which the hotel owner had kept as a guarantee that Zia would work.

“Hearing this news, I sensed that I would never be safe in Afghanistan.”

From Afghanistan to Indonesia

Zia’s father arranged for a people smuggler to send Zia to a safe country. After the people smuggler arranged his travel documents, he flew from Kabul to New Delhi, India on August 17, 2014. From there, he went to Malaysia and then on to Medan, Indonesia on August 21, 2014.

Life in The State of Limbo

From Medan, a people smuggler brought Zia to Jakarta by car on August 23, 2014. On August 24, 2014, he registered himself with the UNHCR in Jakarta. Due to not having the right to work or a way to support himself in Indonesia, Zia went to Kupang Immigration Centre to ask for assistance. After staying for a night at the immigration centre, Zia was transferred to a hotel there.

In September 2014, Zia contacted his mother and learned from her that his father had been killed by the Taliban after he left Afghanistan.

In October 2014, Zia was transferred to a detention centre in Surabaya.

“Life in the detention centre was very challenging. We were being treated like criminals there.”

Despite living in the detention centre, Zia kept exercising to stay fit and healthy.

His Life Now

After more than two years of being detained, Zia received his freedom from the detention centre and was transferred to a community house in Surabaya. Since then, he has been living there.

Zia has been living in limbo for more than a decade now. As a refugee, he cannot get a proper education, work, drive and open a bank account. He dreams of resettling in a safe country where he can have access to his basic human rights and contribute to society.

It is Possible!

It is possible! Since Zia 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 Zia is that he is fully funded.

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 Zia Fayazi directly on Facebook – or through WhatsApp: +62 823-2412-9801.

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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