Fifteen Tamil and Iranian refugee women walked 300 kms from Sydney to Canberra to raise awareness of the plight of 10,000+ refugees held in limbo for over 10 years.
We are a group of refugees who were processed through the flawed Fast Track process introduced by the previous government. We were very happy to hear that the ALP agreed that it did not provide a fair, thorough and robust assessment process for persons seeking asylum. When the ALP came into power on 21st May 2022, we celebrated knowing that our life in limbo for the past 10 years is about to change.
We women and our families are genuine refugees who have made significant contributions to our local communities and employment across many service sectors but do not have permanent visas enabling equal rights and access to essential social services for over a decade. Our children do not have access to HECS to attain higher education in TAFE or University and many feel helpless. Though we have been law abiding, held jobs, paid taxes and contributed to the economy, we languish under temporary visa conditions. Our greatest concern is that we face an uncertain future and fear of being deported to back to countries where we face persecution.
We started our walk on the 31st of October and were honoured to have Karress Rhodes (Deputy Mayor of Liverpool, Hon. Nathan Hagarty NSW MP, Hon. Charishma Kaliyanda NSW MP join us on our first day and show their support in strong words
Clr Rhodes said, “This is not a political thing. This is a humanitarian issue. These women, and those whom they represent, deserve a fair go. That is what we are renowned for here in Australia. Enough is enough. I hope Canberra is listening.”
Nathan Hagarty MP said, “Under the last government we saw what is frankly unfair situation in relation to refugees. We have now made some progress there has been a path for people on temporary visas to permanency. The Labor Party did commit to a fair process in the platform at conference a couple of years ago.”
We walked between 15 and 30 kms per day for a total of 15 days with one day rest in between. Our support team provided food, accommodation, water, caravan, support vehicle, etc. The first day was tough with 30 kms and having 2 additional walkers who had medical issues made the walk even slower. After 2 days, the 2 ladies had to withdraw due to health concerns.
We stayed at church halls, caravan parks, motels, etc. All our food was supplied by volunteers and delivered to us daily. We had blisters, aches, pains and even nerve damage to our feet. But the determination to bring awareness to the plight of refugees rejected by an unfair process kept us going.
We have been refugees for most if not all our lives and were determined that at least our children will have a safe permanent place to call home where they could live in peace and give back to the society that gave them a second chance.
We started our walk at the crack of dawn so that we could finish before the afternoon sun. There were times it rained, and we had to walk bare feet through water to protect our shoes from getting wet. We walked up hill and on rough terrain avoiding snakes and other wild animals. But those challenges were nothing compared to the fear we suffered back in Sri Lanka or Iran. The mental anguish we suffer in Australia due to the constant fear of being deported back is worse than any physical pain we endured during the walk.
On the way we met Judy Hannan NSW MP who had a spread of sandwiches for us and kind words. We started the walk as strangers and by the time we got to Canberra we were more like sisters. We got to Canberra on Monday afternoon and on Tuesday the 14th of November, we walked the last 2.5 kms to the Parliament. Our families, including our Australian born children, met us and joined us on the last leg of our walk. As we had meetings with over 20 parliamentarians from 8:00 AM to 5:30 pm and as this was a peaceful walk to meet the parliamentarians, we humbly requested our supporters not to come to Canberra and hold a rally. We are grateful that our supporters understood the reasons and supported us in other ways.
We rushed from one meeting to another and each of us took turns to explain our particular situation to a Parliamentarian. At times, when we got too emotional, and were touched when the MPs gave us a hug and gave us assurances that we were not alone and they would take steps to ease our pain.
The amount of care and concern the MPs showed us was overwhelming. We never knew that they would care for us the way they did.
Senator David Shoebridge was our first appointment and he said, “We want to welcome you to this country. We want a pathway to permanency. That has to happen now. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to be uncertain for so long… Not knowing the future for so long. And it is very unfair.”
It was so good to know that we were not the forgotten people and that people in Parliament actually know our plight and are prepared to fight for us.
We then bumped into Kon Karapanagiotis who is the CEO and founder of Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) who had come to Parliament for other meetings. His passion for refugee rights touched us deeply. He went onto say: “ASRC calls on the Albanese government to end the suffering, to end the injustice. You shouldn’t have to walk for 15 days to be seen as human beings.”
We then met several MPs and Senators. All of them, without any exception, were amazed that we walked over 300 kms to have our voices heard. They took time from their busy schedules to listen to our stories and they were so empathetic to our plight and were supportive of a fair go.
Sally Sitou MP had injured her leg that morning and was rushed to hospital, but came to meet us in the afternoon on a motorised wheelchair!
Cassandra Fernando MP said: “On behalf of the government, I applaud all the efforts you have made to come here today”.
Fatima Payman hugged one of our walkers tight and reassured us that she knows and understands our plight and will take every effort to bring it to the Minister’s attention.
Dr Andrew Charlton MP’s words gave us so much confidence in the current government and we felt reassured that there is a light at the end of the 10 year long tunnel. He said: “I want to assure you that, Labor really believes very strongly in the contribution that you have made and you will make to Australia. We have made some progress in working through these migration issues that we have to deal with. I understand the frustration for you that we haven’t yet dealt with the issues that you face every day and the cloud that is hanging over you everyday. But, I want to assure you that we will. I want to assure you that in Australia you are extremely welcome. We are lucky to have you here. You are not going anywhere. You are valued. And we will work to make sure you that you are valued through the appropriate resolution of your visa status.”
After so many meetings, we were elated and completely forgot the pain we suffered walking for 15 days. Our trust in the Australian Government has increased beyond measure. We are lucky that we found safety in a country that takes time to listen to the people. We can’t wait to have permanent safety and we can’t wait to give back to the community and country that has given us a second chance at life.
Dr Andrew Charlton MP spoke about our issue in the House of Representatives and Senator David Shoebridge spoke about our issue in the Senate a couple of days after meeting with us. Knowing that they heard us and care for us gives us tremendous hope.
The advocacy work for a fair go for all refugees in limbo continues. Our support team continues to make representations with parliamentarians.
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It is time for the present xenophobic inhumane legal refugee policy to be abandoned by bringing all legal refugees to the Australian mainland, giving them accommodation, necessary health checks & treatment, language education where required and work permits so they may get on with their lives building a better future for their kids and contributing to the Australian economy as free citizens.
Australia has benefited from a long history of assimilating refugees from WWII Europe, Vietnam and other conflict zones.
Well said N E C and thank you.
It is a sad image when the ‘voices’ are heard?