By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
HASINA Resa is one of the lucky ones.
Her escape – with her family- from persecution in Afghanistan in 2001 to settle in Narre Warren South was one stroke of luck.
Another was Ms Resa’s recent appointment as one of 10 Australian youth ambassadors by Children Out of Immigration Detention (ChilOut).
She is not content to sit on her good fortune and not afraid to editorialise on election issues, particularly in favour of asylum seekers.
She bristles when asked about Immigration Minister Peter Dutton’s recent electioneering about “innumerate” and “illiterate” refugees taking Australian jobs or “languishing” in dole queues or on Medicare.
“Oh my God! I feel he’s not fit for that position.
“So many (asylum seekers and refugees) work in the community and their work speaks for itself.”
Ms Resa is far from “languishing” – studying journalism at Deakin University and volunteering with activities at aged care homes.
She chose journalism for her love of writing, the promise of travel and exploring a broad range of people and issues.
As an ambassador, her message is: Australia should remove children “suffering” in immigration detention.
“Regardless of what the parents’ mistakes have been, we should think what they’ve been through for their children.
“In my view, every child is the future. They need to have the same opportunity as I have.”
She points out that statistically Australians are more hostile to refugees and asylum seekers than a decade ago. Mr Dutton’s recent comments make selling her message even harder, she says.
“It’s quite a task. A lot of public schools, which have multicultural students and teachers, are open and great – we’re focused more on the general public.”
Ms Resa was born in Afghanistan, the first child of a newly-wed couple who fled war to settle in Australia in 2001.
She has little recollection of her early childhood in her homeland, but returned to Kabul in 2010 for a family holiday.
“I remember being very scared before we went. I assumed it would be very dangerous, but it was very different to what I expected.”
Rather than terrors, it was encountering the poor and war-ravaged families that she remembers. It fuelled her passion for social justice.
ChilOut campaign co-ordinator Claire Hammerton said many of the 2016 ambassadors had similar backgrounds as Ms Resa.
They were refugees, fleeing war-torn countries, with “powerful stories”.
“(They) carry the message that keeping children in detention centres causes serious harm to children and these effects often continue long after the children have been released.”
The ChilOut youth ambassador program has been running since 2004.
Details: www.chilout.org
