The father of a 19-year-old Burnaby Central Secondary grad stabbed to death outside a Vancouver nightclub this week brought his family to Canada from war-torn Afghanistan nearly 10 years ago.
He is now waiting for Canadian justice to show him that decision wasn't a tragic mistake.
“I am watching for government, for Canada judgment,” Nazir Fazil told the NOW. “After that, I make decision, (whether) I was right to leave my country. I’m watching for judgment.”
Deadly brawl
Police got multiple 911 calls at around 3:30 a.m. Monday about a fight that had broken out between a large group of people outside the Gallery Vancouver nightclub near SW Marine Drive and Hudson Street, according to a Vancouver Police Department news release.
At the scene, officers found a 19-year-old man suffering from stab wounds.
He was taken to hospital but died of his injuries.
While first responders were still working to save the young man’s life, Nazir woke from a restless sleep for prayer about 20 kilometres away in Burnaby.
He noticed his son, Naseb, who had said he was only going out with friends for an hour, hadn’t returned.
Nazir made a note to talk to his son in the morning about not coming home on time.
It wouldn’t be for another four hours that two officers would show up at Nazir's door to tell him his son was dead.
‘Smiling all the time’
Naseb Ahmad Fazil, who had just celebrated his 19th birthday on May 13, was born in Kabul, Afghanistan.
His family fled that country, first to Pakistan and then to Canada as refugees.
They settled in Burnaby in 2016.
“What I was want from the government of Canada? I didn’t want anything from them, only my child’s safety,” Nazir said. “That’s why I escape my country, that’s why I leave everything behind. Only I have to save my kids.”
Naseb, the second oldest son, with one older brother, one younger brother and one younger sister, graduated from Burnaby Central Secondary last year and was working in construction.
“He was smiling all the time, smiling everywhere,” Nazir said.
On the night he was killed, he had given his father a present, a bottle of cologne, bought with one of his first paycheques.
His death has devastated the family, according to Nazir.
“This is part of my household foundation. I lost part from my home foundation,” he said, his voice breaking with grief.
Naseb’s funeral is tomorrow, beginning with prayers at Burnaby’s Al-Salam Mosque on Canada Way.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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