REFUGEES
101
THE PEOPLE
See different peoples amazing journeys from all around the world
Teresa Tran describes her journey to Australia by boat as a young girl, fleeing Vietnam during the war. Her story is truly inspiring as she describes unimaginable challenges she faced and overcame. She is a role model community member, a successful University of Wollongong graduate, and now owns her own accounting business.
Santino Mou Ngong Mut describes his life in Sudan, living through the horrors of civil war, including 2 arrests without prosecution, when he feared for his life. Fleeing the war he and his family when to Egypt and were eventually resettled in Australia.
The Taliban killed many of Najeeba Wasefadost’s friends and family, they fled the country by boat with 100 other people. She describes the time she spent in the Australian, Derby processing centre, before eventually be granted refugee status in Australia. She is now a student, with aspirations to become a doctor.
Afghanistan
Anisa Memari describes her life in Iran and the discrimination she and her family had to live with for many years because of their religious beliefs. At the end of 2002 her and her family moved to Sydney, where they received “new-found freedom”.
Yaseed Muhammad is a 24-year-old Afghan refugee who has recently been released from the Northern Immigration Detention Centre (NIDC) in Darwin, where he was detained for 17 months. He describes his horrific journey, and reflects on the common desperations of asylum seekers to escape one form of captivity even if it means enetering another, or death.
Dr Waleed Alkhazrajy feld his native Iraq almost 15 years ago. Saddam Hussein's regime had ordered him to cut off the ears of army deserters or brand their foreheads with a cross. He chose not to, which meant he had to leave or face torture or death. Now an anaesthetist in Adelaide, he told The Punch what life what like on the boat.
Hussain recalls his earlier life: "In Afghanistan, I was a shepherd and a farmer. We had a small house, very simple. We slept on the floow. Mostly we were happy with our life. All we really wanted was enough food and safety..."
But the Taliban made life very complicated. When Hussain refused to reveal his eldest son's whereabouts, they threatened to kill him.
Reverend John Jegasothy fled Sri Lanka more than 20 years ago after facing violence and intimidation because he was part of the Tamil ethnic group. After being accepted as a refugee by the United nations, he came to Australia by plane via the official resettlement program and is now a proud Australian citizen.
