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Protesters share their experiences, seeking a ...
Place to call home By the sheer bad luck of his birth place, 40-yearold Zayd has never had a place to call home. His family fled from Saddam Hussain’s Iraq when he was just two months old. They struggled as down-trodden second-class citizens in Iran for 31 years before seeking a new life in Australia. He, his wife Dunia and two-year-old daughter Ava were among a crowd protesters in Dandenong last week who told Star Journal of their decade-long quest for refugee status. Ava was born in Australia but is not recognised as an Australian citizen. Again through no fault of her own, she potentially faces the same stateless life as her father. In the past two years, the Federal Government has offered permanent visas for about 18,000 asylum seekers to escape this limbo. As the Government works through “case by case“, the protesters are among about 1000 in Greater Dandenong and Casey still waiting for an answer. They say they’re in a race against time ahead of a possible change of Government next year. Some told Star Journal of how they work multiple jobs to earn a living despite great obstacles. They run pizza shops, mowing and painting businesses, or work in child care, disability support and real estate. Though with modest means, their aspiring children are paying international fees to study at university. But with an uncertain future, it’s like “walking in a tunnel where you don’t see any hope of light”, sylum seeker and real estate manager Atif Raza Rizvi said. “You keep going where you never know what’s going to happen. It’s been like that for the past 12 years.” Meanwhile, painting business-owner Mehdi Panahzadeh wants to marry and start a family with his Australian fiancé. “I started my business, studied, and have a fiancé but these feelings of happiness will not stay forever. Deep down inside a lot of people are in depression because of their visa status.” For more on their stories, turn to our special feature on pages 8-9
Dunia and her 2-year-old daughter Ava, who was born in Australia but has not been granted citizenship, at the asylum-seeker protest at Dandenong on 23 October. (Gary Sissons: 439511)
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