Help Kubra Reunite with Her Refugee Family

My name is Kubra Panahzada from Afghanistan. My husband, child, and I arrived in Canada on February 2, 2024, with the help of the Cowichan Intercultural Society through a sponsorship program from India. We left Afghanistan due to security issues and became refugees in India for three years. Living as a refugee with no identity is a life no one wants to experience, but some have to endure. Getting out of refugee life and coming to Cowichan Valley feels like arriving in heaven.

Being here with permanent residency, having the rights to work, education, shelter, health services, and most importantly, security, is the best life we have experienced.

While in Afghanistan, as members of the Hazara Shia minority, every day morning goodbye to our family could be our last due to the constant threat of explosions. Explosions happened everywhere: on the way to work, in offices, mosques, wedding ceremonies, schools, and training centres. We lost many family members, friends, and colleagues, but we were lucky to survive.

Although I am here, my thoughts and feelings are with my family and friends back in Afghanistan and other countries where they are refugees. My family fled to Pakistan after the Taliban took over the country. They are now refugees in Pakistan, where they cannot move freely due to the threat of deportation.

Millions of Afghans are refugees in Pakistan; some get visas that expire, and some register with the UNHCR. Despite news reports saying those without visas or UNHCR registration are not deported, the police take any Afghan they see, even searching homes at night. My family cannot return to Afghanistan or stay in Pakistan. They have no income, health services, education, or basic necessities; they are only safe from the Taliban.

Everyone in my family is ill due to these problems and have no access to any health services. To bring them here, I need your help and support. Please donate to help the world's most vulnerable people find a new life away from the world's most insecure country.

My parents need $28,000 CAD plus five sponsors. My brother, his wife, and their three children need $24,000 CAD plus a job offer from a company. In total, we need $52,000 CAD, five sponsors, and a job offer to bring my family here.

My brother has a Master's in Economics from India and his wife has a Bachelor's in Computer Science. My brother and his wife are well-educated with extensive work experience with the previous Afghan government.

Please help my family escape these dire circumstances.