By Margaret Edwards, Casey Cardinia for Refugees
Two weeks ago as our attention was focused on the fall of Kabul, 33 refugees detained for over two years in Australia were quietly released into community detention on Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs).
This means they are provided a house and a small payment fortnightly.
They are free to move about in the community (in the absence of lockdown restrictions), and have support from a government funded service such as Life Without Barriers or AMES.
These men were brought to Australia under the Medevac Bill from Manus Island ( PNG ) over two years ago because of extreme physical and mental health needs.
The legislation which enabled their evacuation for urgent medical attention was passed in early 2019 but repealed in December of that year on the casting vote of Senator Jacqui Lambie.
Many of the refugees who were released had been held on Manus Island in very cruel and harsh circumstances for six years or more.
Anyone who is interested in learning more about conditions on Manus and the story of one particular refugee who fled Myanmar and later managed to escape from Manus Island, should read the recently released book “Escape from Manus” by Jaivet Ealom.
Refugee action groups do not know why these 33 refugees were released, or how the selection was made.
It would appear to be random and the men themselves have received no explanation.
It is bittersweet for them as many of their close friends remain locked up.
They had been detained in the Mantra Hotel in Brisbane and Park Hotel in Carlton, as well as in the MITA detention centre in Broadmeadows.
Twenty-five of the men were released from Melbourne detention. Five of them (that we know of) have been placed in community detention in the City of Casey.
They are from Pakistan and Iran and are all young men who should be in the prime of their lives but are now struggling with their mental and physical health after what they have endured for the best part of their twenties.
They are intelligent, gentle men who now struggle with depression, panic attacks, anxiety and PTSD as well as physical health issues.
Their resilience has enabled them to survive their years of incarceration, where some of their friends took their own lives.
But though they are now living in houses in our community and to us, it may seem they are “free”, they have been given no certainty from the government.
Their futures remain in limbo and they live every day with the ongoing trauma of not knowing what their future will be or if they will have any chance to resume a “normal” life in Australia or perhaps in the USA or Canada. They are under stress all the time.
Casey Cardinia for Refugees is a local refugee action group which has been providing financial support to refugees in off shore detention for over four years.
We also stage a weekly vigil at the Berwick Village main intersection on Saturday mornings (when able) to raise awareness of refugee issues.
We write regularly to the Pakenham Gazette, other media outlets and our elected parliamentarian Jason Wood, who ignores our ongoing requests to meet with him.
Casey Cardinia for Refugees has been able to reach out to some of these recently released refugees who now live in our community.
We are extending friendship and support where possible.
They are in need of money to buy groceries, clothes, phone cards etc as their Government payment does not cover all these things.
Anyone who would like to donate to Casey Cardinia for Refugees is most welcome to contact us at caseycardiniaforrefugees@gmail.com.
We also help support the refugees in PNG who are in dire situations living in Port Moresby in a hostile dangerous environment with very little support. We send them money for phone cards and food.
There are still close to 277 refugees and asylum seekers held in detention in immigration centres or hotels across Australia.
Thirty-seven of these men are in the Park Hotel Carlton.
When restrictions lift, the daily vigils on Lygon Street held by refugee action groups and concerned individuals will resume, to remind these men that they are not forgotten.
We deplore this treatment of people who have come to our country seeking safety and security from places like war-torn Afghanistan.
They should all be released into the community and be provided with Covid vaccinations and full and necessary support immediately.
