Help Hazara family avoid deportation to Afghanista
Donation protected
Hello, my name is Yasi. I am 18 years old and the oldest child in my family of seven. Originally from Afghanistan, my family fled to Pakistan due to threats to our lives and safety when the Taliban took Kabul and regained power over our homeland. My family and I belong to two minority groups relentlessly targeted by the Taliban: we are both Hazara and Shiite Muslims. My own father was personally intimidated with threats of violence by members of the Taliban because we are racial and religious minorities. They want to erase us from the face of the earth.
In September of 2021, when the Taliban regained power over Afghanistan again, my family and I were evacuated in the middle of the night with the help of Azi - The Wellness Therapist and the organization Too Young To Wed. We have lived in Pakistan ever since. Because I learned to speak English when I was able to go to school, I am the spokesperson for our family and do all the legal paperwork for my siblings and parents. I have worked hard for over a year to find somewhere secure and stable for myself and my beloved family to live lives free of fear and the risk of systemic murder, torture, and arrests. I need your help to ensure our literal survival by raising money to renew our visas so that we will not be deported from Pakistan back to Afghanistan when they expire on December 31st, 2022.
Being part of a large family has made seeking and getting permanent asylum in a safer country very hard and expensive. After escaping Afghanistan and fleeing to Pakistan, we have made some progress in our legal status and are currently in the process of being approved for asylum in another much safer country for our family. But that process won’t be done for another 8-12 months. We are on a long wait list. Luckily, we have lawyers who are helping us with this process. On top of all of this,the government of Pakistan has now told us and other Afghan families that we need to pay $850 per person in order to have our visa renewed for another six months. We have to pay that amount in about 34 days on December 31, 2022, otherwise they will deport us back to Afghanistan where we will be targets for murder and arrest.
Let me introduce you to my dear family, so you know who you will be supporting with your donations. These are my brothers,Ali Zahid,Benyamin, and my littlest brother Elijas who my mom gave birth to in Pakistan right after we escaped Afghanistan. Their lives, like mine, will be in danger if we are deported. They deserve not only to be safe, but to be happy, carefree, and joyful instead of constantly being afraid and anxious about our future. We miss just being allowed to be children. We miss going to school. Our lives have changed so drastically over the last year and we just desire some normalcy and space to heal, play, and rest, without fear of violence due to our minority status. All we want is to just be secure somewhere and not have to constantly move from one safe house to another. To attend school again. To be able to help others in similar situations as ours. To live our lives to the fullest and be free.
We are asking you to help us raise the $850 per person for our family of seven to help us pay the fines and renew our visa so that we can stay in Pakistan while we continue the process of obtaining permanent asylum in another safer country. We need to raise at least $5,950 over the next 34 days. Previously, we raised $3,100 over the last 14 months from another gofundme so that we could maintain our new, more expensive lives in Pakistan. We have used up those funds to take care of our basic needs such as housing, food, and medicine over the past year. If there is any amount you can help us raise it would be greatly appreciated. Every penny you are donating is going towards our visa renewals and legal expenses for our asylum case. Please help us. And in the spirit of our sisters in Iran we want to say thank you to all who have helped us. zan Zeghi Azadi! Long live a free Afghanistan and a Free Iran.
______________________
Hello all. My name is Donna Arkee and I am originally from Fairfield, California. I’m a freelance writer, comedian and vintage store co-owner based in Oakland, California. I am lucky and honored to have gotten to know Yasi over the last year. She is a sweet, tenacious, and amazing young girl and I am so proud to call her my friend. All I want is for her to have a normal life again, full of fun and possibility and all the Hello Kitty stationary and stuffed animals in the world. A life where she can make new friends and spend quality time with old ones, to day dream over a cup of tea at a cafe, and go on any adventure she wants knowing that there is a warm safe home full of the people she loves waiting for her. A life where she can have any future she wants. What she and her family have been through is unimaginable. They need your support desperately.
I will now be sharing Yasi’s story, in her own words, from the previous gofundme we worked on together last year to illustrate how terrifying this situation is: I am writing this with a devastated heart and hope to get help. After the fall of kabul and taliban takeover,life became difficult for everyone in Afghanistan. Womens were not allowed to go outside without a men. Hazara people were displaced by the Taliban. My dad was an ordinary worker who lost his job because he was threatened by the Taliban. On 19th August he was in mosque and worked as a volunteer to assist with food. The Taliban came and They harassed him and told him to not attend mosques. My father was scared and terrified,again on 9th September while he was out to get groceries,the talibs came in the shop owned by hazaras and said loudly "where are the leaders you supported? Did they help you to get out? No but we will take our revenge and your tribe will be wiped off Afghanistan. " the people of hazara were severely injured and harassed by the talibs in the airport. We tried to get inside the airport on the day that bomb blast happened. Unfortunately we didn't make it and also we lost all our belongings. My little brothers were lost I was pushed into the sewage. I am still in trauma and shock because of what happened. I was a student in 11th grade and had lots of goals to achieve in my life but here we are today. After that we hid in our house and locked the door we stopped going outside. I tried to contact every rescue organization but they did not respond to any of my message and emails. Luckily we received help from the too young to wed organization and came to Pakistan. We had no other choice. And here we are today struggling with everything in here. The food and living expenses are so expensive. We need your help if you could help us we would be more than happy.
Being part of a large family has made seeking and getting permanent asylum in a safer country very hard and expensive. After escaping Afghanistan and fleeing to Pakistan, we have made some progress in our legal status and are currently in the process of being approved for asylum in another much safer country for our family. But that process won’t be done for another 8-12 months. We are on a long wait list. Luckily, we have lawyers who are helping us with this process. On top of all of this,the government of Pakistan has now told us and other Afghan families that we need to pay $850 per person in order to have our visa renewed for another six months. We have to pay that amount in about 34 days on December 31, 2022, otherwise they will deport us back to Afghanistan where we will be targets for murder and arrest.
Let me introduce you to my dear family, so you know who you will be supporting with your donations. These are my brothers,Ali Zahid,Benyamin, and my littlest brother Elijas who my mom gave birth to in Pakistan right after we escaped Afghanistan. Their lives, like mine, will be in danger if we are deported. They deserve not only to be safe, but to be happy, carefree, and joyful instead of constantly being afraid and anxious about our future. We miss just being allowed to be children. We miss going to school. Our lives have changed so drastically over the last year and we just desire some normalcy and space to heal, play, and rest, without fear of violence due to our minority status. All we want is to just be secure somewhere and not have to constantly move from one safe house to another. To attend school again. To be able to help others in similar situations as ours. To live our lives to the fullest and be free.
We are asking you to help us raise the $850 per person for our family of seven to help us pay the fines and renew our visa so that we can stay in Pakistan while we continue the process of obtaining permanent asylum in another safer country. We need to raise at least $5,950 over the next 34 days. Previously, we raised $3,100 over the last 14 months from another gofundme so that we could maintain our new, more expensive lives in Pakistan. We have used up those funds to take care of our basic needs such as housing, food, and medicine over the past year. If there is any amount you can help us raise it would be greatly appreciated. Every penny you are donating is going towards our visa renewals and legal expenses for our asylum case. Please help us. And in the spirit of our sisters in Iran we want to say thank you to all who have helped us. zan Zeghi Azadi! Long live a free Afghanistan and a Free Iran.
______________________
Hello all. My name is Donna Arkee and I am originally from Fairfield, California. I’m a freelance writer, comedian and vintage store co-owner based in Oakland, California. I am lucky and honored to have gotten to know Yasi over the last year. She is a sweet, tenacious, and amazing young girl and I am so proud to call her my friend. All I want is for her to have a normal life again, full of fun and possibility and all the Hello Kitty stationary and stuffed animals in the world. A life where she can make new friends and spend quality time with old ones, to day dream over a cup of tea at a cafe, and go on any adventure she wants knowing that there is a warm safe home full of the people she loves waiting for her. A life where she can have any future she wants. What she and her family have been through is unimaginable. They need your support desperately.
I will now be sharing Yasi’s story, in her own words, from the previous gofundme we worked on together last year to illustrate how terrifying this situation is: I am writing this with a devastated heart and hope to get help. After the fall of kabul and taliban takeover,life became difficult for everyone in Afghanistan. Womens were not allowed to go outside without a men. Hazara people were displaced by the Taliban. My dad was an ordinary worker who lost his job because he was threatened by the Taliban. On 19th August he was in mosque and worked as a volunteer to assist with food. The Taliban came and They harassed him and told him to not attend mosques. My father was scared and terrified,again on 9th September while he was out to get groceries,the talibs came in the shop owned by hazaras and said loudly "where are the leaders you supported? Did they help you to get out? No but we will take our revenge and your tribe will be wiped off Afghanistan. " the people of hazara were severely injured and harassed by the talibs in the airport. We tried to get inside the airport on the day that bomb blast happened. Unfortunately we didn't make it and also we lost all our belongings. My little brothers were lost I was pushed into the sewage. I am still in trauma and shock because of what happened. I was a student in 11th grade and had lots of goals to achieve in my life but here we are today. After that we hid in our house and locked the door we stopped going outside. I tried to contact every rescue organization but they did not respond to any of my message and emails. Luckily we received help from the too young to wed organization and came to Pakistan. We had no other choice. And here we are today struggling with everything in here. The food and living expenses are so expensive. We need your help if you could help us we would be more than happy.
Organizer
Donna a
Organizer
Oakland, CA