Thousands of refugees living and working in Australia will be granted permanent residency after ten years in limbo living with Temporary Protection Visas or Safe Haven Enterprise Visas.

My Afghan friend said he cried when he heard the news.  He, like many other refugees with temporary status, is working and paying taxes. He works in the mining sector after having successfully gained a scholarship to study for a university degree in Australia. He already had one degree from India and is a fine upstanding young man.   

Why wouldn’t we want him as an Australian citizen?  He is a refugee who fled from persecution by the Taliban in fear for his life.  For years I have asked myself why the Australian government was persecuting him further.

This week’s announcement from the Albanese Government is a life changer for over 19,000 refugees who entered Australia prior to the dreadful ‘Operation Sovereign Borders’ policy that was enacted in 2013.  This policy centred around then immigration minister Scott Morrison’s mantra of ‘stop the boats’ and was applied to anyone who had arrived by boat to seek protection in Australia before 19 July 2013.  

Since then, those with temporary visas had to reapply every few years for their visa despite having been found to be refugees seeking asylum.  Restrictions also included no possibility of reuniting with families, no support for tertiary study, travel restrictions and limited access to disability and other social supports.

The Refugee Council of Australia is celebrating this long-awaited policy change, which was a Labor election promise. “Today’s announcement from Immigration Minister Andrew Giles is righting almost a decade of an inhumane policy which achieved nothing but untold harm and trauma to people who sought protection in Australia,” said Chief Executive Officer Paul Power. 

You can read more on their website or in the Guardian Australia.

These changes have been hailed by refugee advocates across Australia as “a victory of unity and compassion over division and fear”.

Today I am once again proud to be an Australian.