Hannah Hammoud
After a gruelling 640 kilometre walk from Melbourne to Canberra, tired but determined, 22 refugee women arrived at the steps of Parliament House on October 18.
A mother of three from St Albans led the march of 22 refugee women, many from Brimbank, who are calling on the fedral government to grant permanent protection visas for 10,000 refugees who have been living in limbo in Australia for 10 years.
The 22 women from Iran and Sri Lanka, ranging from ages 19 to 52, are living on short term bridging visas. The women are calling for permanent protection visas for the 10,000 ‘victims’ of the fast track assessment process.
These refugees and asylum seekers were left out of the February 2023 announcement from the federal government that allowed for 19,000 refugees who arrived over a similar period to apply for permanent residency.
At the time, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said it made ‘no sense’ to keep people who were working and paying taxes in limbo.
On the final day of their walk from Melbourne to Parliament House, the 22 refugee women called on the government to act immediately to offer a clear path to permanent residency for people failed by the fast track process.
Rathi Barthlote, a Tamil refugee from Albion and co-founder of Refugee Women Action for Visa Equality, said for the past four weeks, the women have been on a journey on foot to call for an end to the uncertainty that 10,000 refugees in Australia are facing.
“We are refugees who came to Australia seeking safety, but after a decade still do not have a clear pathway to permanent residency. The last government stacked the refugee system against us. They called this system ‘Fast Track’ — but it wasn’t fast and it wasn’t fair,” she said.
“I lost my first child because of the Sri Lankan civil war and I haven’t seen my mother for 18 years. It breaks my heart that my mother is living alone and I cannot reunite with my family. Now Australia is our home and our children’s home. There are 10,000 of us, living as part of communities across Australia. Many of us are prevented from working or studying and our children cannot go to university like other children. All of us are still waiting, after 10 years, for a permanent place to call home, a place to belong.
“We have walked to Parliament House to ask the Albanese government to end the dreadful mental health toll that uncertainty has and give 10,000 people a clear path to permanence. After a decade, our home is here.”
Supported by a network of churches, faith groups, unions and community and refugee organisations, the women are asking the federal government for permanent protection visas for all refugees left in limbo in Australia, work and study rights for all refugees, the abolishment of the fast track system and the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA) and permanent settlement in Australia for all refugees from the processing centres in Nauru and Papua New Guinea.
The Immigration Minister Andrew Giles was contacted for comment.
Find the petition here, www.change.org/p/women-s-walk-for-freedom-grant-permanent-protection-for-all-refugees-left-behind-by-the-system
