Sponsor an Afghan family living in extreme risk

My dear friends:

This is a request to help fund the resettlement costs for an Afghan family who I know personally. They are stateless and living in extreme risk.

Baqir S__ was the program driver for a USAID project that I worked with in 2016-17. The project provided training for faculty at Kabul University; Baqir was a driver for faculty, foreign NGOs, and government ministries in the former Afghan government. He was my driver when I worked in Kabul; he kept me safe wherever we went. Baqir’s work resulted in him being labeled an “enemy collaborator” by the Taliban; when the Taliban seized the government, Baqir was not just out of a job but prohibited from working.

Baqir is a member of a minority group (the Hazara) who are slated for expulsion and elimination by the Taliban and ISIS.

Baqir has a large family: his wife, four girls and three sons, the children ranging from 3 to 20 years of age. Last year, their neighborhood was threatened by armed groups and bombed twice. The S__ girls’ school was bombed, killing some friends of the girls. Baqir's daughters were threatened and forbidden to attend school.

The family fled the country and are now in hiding. They are unable to seek asylum where they are now. They cannot legally work, and the children cannot attend school. They are surviving on informal jobs and remittances.

The good news is that in February the Glebe Road United Church in Toronto agreed to sponsor the S__ family. Sponsorship in Canada provides a path toward citizenship for asylum-seekers. The sponsorship process involves collecting resettlement funds up front (including travel, visas, initial housing, support services and more). The Canadian government provides many matching funds.

The estimated sponsorship costs for the S__ family will be US$85,000. We have 45 days to collect the bulk of these funds to meet an application deadline for the Canadian government resettlement program.

With your help, we can raise these funds and help the S__ family to safety. Please help, give what you can. Help Glebe Road Church save this family. The S__ family should not have to live in the situation they are in now. Please use the “donate” button below. All donations are being transferred to the Glebe Refugee Sponsorship for the S__ family.

For more information, contact me at [email redacted]

Here is the link to the Glebe refugee program: https://www.gleberoadunited.org/refugee/