Senate inquiry into visa laws hears of separated families’ pain
The Australian government’s visa laws are devastating families and keeping parents away from their children for years, a Senate Committee inquiry has been told. The landmark inquiry into the Morrison government’s family migration policies has received evidence from legal experts and people separated from their families, which show a broken system in urgent need of reform.
Rohullah Hussaini, a Swan Hill resident, has never met his baby daughter Jasmine. Despite living in Victoria for nearly a decade Rohullah is barred by the Australian Government from bringing his wife and daughter from Afghanistan to live with him. Rohullah cannot hold his baby daughter, and has not seen his wife for two years, because he holds a temporary protection visa.
“When I first came to Australia, there was no such thing as temporary protection visas. But then the law changed. When I learned how a temporary visa would change my future and keep me apart from my family, I was devastated,” Mr Hussaini said.
“I missed my baby daughter’s birth, and now I have missed her first birthday too. My wife is a strong woman but I worry about her raising a child by herself. We worry about our daughter too – will she grow up without a father?”
The Human Rights Law Centre has told the inquiry that discriminatory policies like temporary protection visas as well as exorbitant visa costs and unreasonable delays, are keeping thousands of people separated from their loved ones.
Senior Lawyer Josephine Langbien said urgent reform was needed.
“It shouldn’t take years of waiting and thousands of dollars for people to be able to be with their loved ones. Parents are missing out on their child’s first steps, or first day at school. People are trying to maintain relationships and marriages over the phone for years on end. For many families, exorbitant visa fees and impossible waiting times mean that a life together is simply out of reach.”
“Our visa laws should reunite people with their loved ones – not keep them apart. The Australian Government needs to put families at the heart of our migration policies. A fairer family migration system can play a crucial role in our recovery from COVID-19 as Australia begins to reconnect with the rest of the world.”
Most starkly, the Australian Government is deliberately keeping refugee families apart, using family separation as a tool to punish and deter people from seeking safety. The methods used to keep refugee families apart were exposed in the Human Rights Law Centre’s recent report, Together in Safety.
On the Australian Government’s punitive policies, Mr Hussaini said, “I want the Australian Government to understand what this is doing to me, to my wife and our baby, and to the thousands of other families. I just want a permanent and safe future, and I want to be able to give the same to my daughter.”
Read Rohullah Hussaini’s submission (pre-Committee version) to the Senate inquiry here.
Read the Human Rights Law Centre’s submission to the Senate inquiry here.
Read the Human Rights Law Centre’s report, Together in Safety, here.
Media contact:
Michelle Bennett 0419 100 519