Support Zia's Resettlement

Dear family, friends and colleagues;

 

We are writing to you with an appeal for financial contributions to our private sponsorship of an Afghan refugee to Canada. We are a group of 4 Ottawa-based couples who have united as co-sponsors due to our common desire to give this young man an opportunity at a better, safer and more prosperous life, while honouring the 158 Canadian military personnel killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan.

 

For the safety and security of the refugee and his family who remains in Afghanistan, we will refer to him only as Zia. At the age of 14, Zia registered himself at the UNHCR office in Jakarta after being smuggled from Afghanistan to Indonesia at the behest of his parents, in an effort to protect him from being abducted by the Taliban. No one choses to be a refugee. No parent should be forced to send her child off, alone, to a foreign land. Now 17 years old, Zia resides in a youth shelter in south Jakarta run jointly by the UNHCR and the Church World Service (CWS), which provides him a modest monthly allowance. Though he has been designated a refugee by the UNHCR, Zia, like all refugees in Indonesia, does not have the right to work, go to school or move freely because Indonesia is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or 1967 Protocol (https://www.mei.edu/publications/afghan-hazara-refugees-indonesia-transit-or-limbo)

 

As a member of the ethnic and religious minority Hazara community, Zia cannot return to Afghanistan where the Hazara people have long been subject to discrimination and violent persecution and therefore face enormous difficulties in exercising their basic human rights, including freedom of movement, right to life, higher education and work (https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/09/19/who-are-the-muslim-hazara-of-afghanistan/).

 

As such, Zia, remains stranded in Indonesia. Now approaching adulthood, he is also at high risk of being turned out of the youth shelter and having his allowance cut, leaving him in the most precarious situation, including the possibility of being forced into detention.

 

Canada's Privately Sponsored Refugee program is a humanitarian program, which assists vulnerable people in need. As part of the program, the sponsorship group is responsible for providing 12 months of income support, plus start-up costs. The minimum financial requirement is $16,500 CDN, which is intended to cover the cost of shelter, food, furniture and household items, communication costs (i.e. telephone, internet services) and public transportation (https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/guide-sponsor-refugee-groups-five.html#appa2-psr). Though 2 members of the sponsorship group ​will provide Zia free shelter in their ​home for the initial 12 months, other basic expenses - such as for a computer to support him in obtaining his high school diploma and potentially training in a trade - are expected. As such, every dollar will go towards providing Zia with the basic needs of a newcomer looking to build a life in Canada.

 

On behalf of Zia and the entire sponsorship group, thank you for your support.