Iranian refugee couple reunite in Vancouver

After five years of separation, a refugee couple from Iran have reunited in Vancouver.

Sayed Towfiq and Masuma Kazami are starting their life together in Surrey, just in time for Valentine’s day.

Towfiq has been living in Vancouver as a refugee since 2019 while anticipating his wife, who spent years waiting for her visa to join him. In 2023, Kazami was finally granted her visa and landed in Vancouver in December.

Their reunion at the Vancouver airport was their first in-person connection since childhood.

Towfiq tells The Leader Spirit how anxious he was waiting for his wife to join him.

“This situation (was) so really hard (for) me, because I just all the time I counted ‘One day, two day, three day, she arrive,’” said Towfiq.

The couple, originally from a village in Afghanistan moved to Iran with their families, where they grew up together. The men and women were often seperated, so they only exchanged a few words when they were young. When they reconnected as adults while Towfiq was in Europe, their romantic relationship started.

Engaged virtually in 2018, the couple was forced to live apart for five years. They say what kept their love alive was their daily video calls.

Towfiq, a former professional soccer player would bring his wife everywhere, virtually, and she would support him through their video calls.

“I train, I exercise, I put my phone on the other side of the field and then video call together. And she told me “Hey Sayed, hey Sayed, do more! Do more! Do more! Yes!”

The couple is now just begining to enjoy the simple things in life, like their first Valentine’s Day.

“The jewelry, the flowers, the money, the everything cannot explain my feeling about my wife, my love,” said Towfiq.