Highlights
- PM Scott Morrison refuses permanent settlement of Afghan asylum-seekers in Australia
- Department of Home Affairs data reveals over 5,000 Afghan refugees currently live in Australia
- Refugee support groups demand permanent settlement for Afghans currently on temporary protection visas
Thirty-five-year old Mohammad Mahdi Fazali still shakes while describing the murder of his cousin and friend by the Taliban.
He says the pair had been working for a local agency building infrastructure projects paid for by international donors, when they were ambushed in Afghanistan’s Daikundi province.
“I was working in the same office. We were friends, we were always together, working together, taking photos together,” he tells SBS News.
Mr Fazali worried that he could be next, so he fled Afghanistan, leaving behind his parents, wife and three young children.
He travelled overland through South-East Asia to Indonesia, where he boarded a people-smuggling boat bound for Australia in 2013.
I had seen in the news, in the media, that Australia was a welcoming country to refugees
"I had no choice, we were in hiding throughout the journey,” he adds.
Life of uncertainty
After spending a brief period in immigration detention on Christmas Island, Mr Fazali was issued a six-month bridging visa and allowed to live in the Australian community.
His application to the Australian government for protection was rejected and was told it was safe for him to return to Afghanistan.
“I applied to immigration and they rejected my case. I appealed to the courts, again, I got refused.
The response from the Australian government was that ‘Afghanistan is safe for you’. They said that my life had not been directly threatened. And they dismissed my application
He was issued a bridging visa which he’s had to renew every six months for the past eight years.
It means that while he can work, he has no ability to travel abroad and no rights for family reunification, or even to remain in Australia for longer than the duration of his visa.
“They give me a six-month visa each time, [which] I apply for by myself. When it's nearly finished, I apply again for another visa,” he says.
While Mr Fazali has been in Australia hoping to secure a better life, his family has abandoned hope of finding the same in Afghanistan.
In 2016, his parents, wife and children fled to Iran, where they remain today.
Mr Fazali works for a signage company in Perth and supports them financially.
“I send money from here to pay for food, rent, that’s it. But they can’t go anywhere,” he says.
“It’s not a good situation (in Iran). Because they have no visa, they’re living illegally over there. They’re just surviving on my support from here,” Mr Fazali adds.
His eldest daughter is now 16, and while they talk often, Mr Fazali hasn’t seen her in eight years.
His current six-month visa expires in February 2022.
I need the Australian government’s help, to help us, to help me to live to save my family, save myself
Resettlement refused
Statistics released by the Department of Home Affairs under Freedom of Information in July this year, seen by SBS News, show there are 5,160 Afghan asylum-seekers currently in Australia, who arrived by boat over eight years ago and are subject to the fast-track assessment process.
Among these, 4,247 were recognised as needing protection and issued either a Temporary Protection Visa or Safe Haven Enterprise Visa.
Another 328 were refused asylum by the department, while 455 cases are yet to be determined.
On 17 August, Prime Minister Scott Morrison emphatically refused to allow any of them to remain in Australia permanently.
He said anyone currently in Australia after arriving by boat will not be allowed to stay.
“Illegal maritime arrivals, those who have not come to Australia the right way and are on temporary visas in Australia, they will not be offered permanent residence in Australia.
“I want to be very clear about that. I want to tell people-smugglers in the region that nothing’s changed,” Mr Morrison announced.
Calls for compassion
A group of Afghan asylum-seekers in Perth. Source: Aaron Fernandes
Refugee groups condemned the comments, calling for Afghan asylum-seekers who have been given temporary protection to be allowed to stay permanently, and those denied any protection to be reassessed.
“There have been times where the department deemed Kabul a safe place. They refused [applications] on the basis they could return to Afghanistan, and it’s safe to live there,” Refugee Advice & Casework Service Director Sarah Dale says.
“We have been saying for years that is not something people can do, that Kabul should not be considered a safe city. The DHA has disagreed based on the information available to them and refused people’s cases on that basis.
People have been refused on the basis that Kabul is safe, which we all know now, is not safe. It’s not in dispute at the moment whether Kabul is safe or not
The federal government has given an assurance that no one would be forcibly moved to Afghanistan during the current unrest.
But Ms Dale says many asylum-seekers on temporary visas face the constant threat of detention.
“They risk being detained, they cannot work or access Medicare and they can’t sponsor or bring their families to safety,” she says.
“So, how we punish people in Australia while waiting for a change in their outcome, is just utter suffering for this community, at a time that we see the suffering in Afghanistan,” she adds.
‘My heart is crying’
Mohammad Kazim Husseini, 30, also lives in Perth after arriving in Australia by boat in 2013.
His claim for asylum was rejected and he is now awaiting the result of an appeal to the Federal Court, while his family hides from the Taliban in Kabul.
"Right now, I’m very upset, but I can’t do anything. A few days ago, the Taliban came," says Mr Husseini.
When I call my family, my wife cries. My daughter cries, asking ‘where are you? Why aren’t you coming? We can’t go to school, we can’t go outside’. They’ve just been locked inside for days
In Sydney, Mohammad Saleem, 33, says he was attacked by the Taliban after working on construction projects for a company connected to former president Hamid Karzai.
He left Afghanistan to seek asylum in Australia in April 2013, leaving behind his parents, wife and four children.
Mohammad Saleem in Sydney, who left his family in Afghanistan in 2013 to seek asylum in Australia. Source: Zoran Gajic
Now while I’m talking with you, my heart is crying. I can’t sleep, because my whole family is still in Afghanistan. I can’t control myself. Nowadays, I’m taking stress and sleeping tablets
Mr Saleem’s journey took him through Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and eventually Indonesia, where he boarded a people-smuggling boat to Christmas Island.
He says that having his parents killed by the Taliban led him to undertake the perilous 95-hour journey with 63 other passengers on board.
“It was a really horrible and dangerous journey of my life. Ninety-five hours I was in the boat surrounded by water,” he recalls.
Mr Saleem was eventually granted a temporary protection visa, which means that his asylum claims were accepted but he wasn’t granted permanent protection.
That meant he too has been unable to travel or be reunited with his family.
"When I was coming to Australia, I didn’t expect this horrible life. It’s a really hard life for me," he says.
When I left my son, he was seven-years-old and now he is 15. I can’t see my family, that’s why I want a permanent residency visa. That’s my request to the Australian government, to accept me, because I can’t go back to Afghanistan
“They keep asking me, when are you going to come home, please come home. I can’t give them an answer because I don’t have an answer. What should I say to them,” Mr Saleem questions.
