A Country of Refuge

On 11/09/2017 By More to the StoryIn book review, Telling other people's stories

I really enjoyed the anthology edited by Tom Keneally and Rosie Scott. A country too far features fiction, memoir, poetry and essays about seeking asylum by 27 of Australia’s best writers including: Anna Funder, Kim Scott, Raimond Gaita, Christos Tsiolkas, Gail Jones, Les Murray and Dorothy Hewitt.

It was released in 2013 and I can remember attending a writer’s festival event to hearTom and Rosie talk about how the book came together. Rosie talked about the way in which the best writers can get to the heart of things because of their clarity of language and powerful insights. Tom, in in his eloquent way, reminded politicians that the inflammatory and inaccurate language they were using was de-humanising. In the introduction to the book he wrote “the fact that they are talking about the most marginalised people on earth – deeply traumatised refugees who have lost their countries, homes and families through disasters of every kind – is lost in a storm of venom and cliché.”

It is a powerful book of unique voices and experiences.

Little did I know that it also inspired another book in another country. While on holiday, I spent my obligatory self-indulgent morning trailing over all the floors of Foyles Bookshop in London and came across A Country of Refuge – an anthology of writing about asylum seekers by outstanding British and Irish writers. Editor Lucy Popescu conceived of the idea in 2014 when she received her copy of A country too far just as the European refugee crisis began to make news when thousands of people fled across the Mediterranean into Europe.

Featuring outstanding writers like Sebastian Barry, Rose Tremain, Marina Lewycka and William Boyd, it takes the same approach as A country too far, combining, memoir, short fiction and essays with poetry. Barry’s opening short story ‘Fragment of a journal, author unknown’ recalls Ireland’s famine years in the nineteenth century when tens of thousands of starving people risked voyages across the Atlantic in hazardous coffin ships. Many disturbing parallels can be drawn between the exodus of the famine years and the current refugee crisis.

The book is poignant and thought-provoking.

Both anthologies are highly readable and can be picked up and put down as the mood strikes, which given the topic, is not a bad way to read and reflect on them.

Barbara Kingsolver, praising the skill required to write a memorable short story, described the form as entailing ‘the successful execution of large truths delivered in tight spaces.’ All The writing in A Country of Refuge and A country too far may be short, but you won’t forget what you read for a long time.

A Country of Refuge – edited by Lucy Popescu (Unbound, 2016)

‘I have stories I want to tell’

On 16/08/2017 By More to the StoryIn book review, Events

Want to read a magical story about an amazing family set alongside a gripping political commentary? The enlightenment of the greengage tree by my good friend Shokoofeh Azar, which will be launched this week in Australia, does just that.

Living a large part of her life in Iran means most of Shokoofeh’s writing has been published in Farsi. This is her first novel to be written and translated into English with Western readers in mind. It is an opportunity for us to experience the art of Persian story-telling in the style of magical realism at its best. Alice Pung wrote in an early review: ‘It is incredible. I have never heard such a voice before… Azar writes about Iranian history with the lightness of a feather’s touch. Transcendental, brilliant and beautiful.’

Shokoofeh came to Australia in 2010 as a political refugee by boat. Sadly sometimes Australians find this the most interesting thing about her. On a blog by Rashida Murphy, another novelist, Shokoofeh said: ‘Surviving a boat journey does not define a person for life. How I got here is not what I’m about. I have stories I want to tell. I paint. I’m a mother.’

Shokoofeh’s book is published by the small independent publisher Wild Dingo and is being launched by Professor Baden Offord, the Director of the Centre for Human Rights Education on Friday 18 August at the Centre for Stories.

This is a book that represents the rich literary tradition of Iran. I loved it.

Shokoofeh Azar

Waleed Aly at the Centre for Human Rights Education

On 03/08/201703/08/2017 By More to the StoryIn Events

This year’s Annual Human Rights Lecture at the Curtin University Centre for Human Rights Education will be delivered by Waleed Aly. image003 (1)

Widely known as the co-host of Network TEN’s The Project, Waleed Aly is a broadcaster, author, academic, musician and one of Australia’s most respected and versatile media talents.

His social and political commentary has produced an award-winning book and multiple literary short-listings. His debut book, People Like Us: How arrogance is dividing Islam and the West (Picador, 2007), was shortlisted for several awards including the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards and for Best Newcomer at the 2008 Australian Book Industry Awards. In 2014 he was awarded the prestigious Walkley Award for Commentary, Analysis, Opinion and Critique.

The inaugural Curtin Annual Human Rights Lecture delivered by Professor Gillian Triggs was excellent. There is a link on the Research and Reports page of this site to view the lecture.

The lecture is on Saturday 19 August starting at 3:45pm. It is free, but you need to register quickly as places are filling fast. All the details are on the Centre for Human Rights Education website.

They Cannot Take the Sky

On 26/07/201716/08/2017 By More to the StoryIn Australian Asylum Seeking Policy, book review, Refugee stories, Telling other people's stories

The sky is like a friend for a prisoner, because around you everything is metal fences, but the sky, they cannot take the sky.

These words are from a book of stories from people who have been detained by the Australian government for seeking asylum. Each person reveals in their own words their journey, daily struggles, their fears, hopes and dreams.

The title of the book comes from Behrouz Boochani’s story. Behrouz is a Kurdish They cannot take the sky cover journalist and writer who fled from Iran. He has been in detention on Manus Island since August 2013. He writes and reports from inside the detention centre when he can and has over 4,000 followers on Facebook. A film he shot entirely on his mobile phone about the life and treatment of refugees detained offshore, premiered at the Sydney Film Festival recently.

As I read Behrouz’s story and others by people of refugee background, I moved between admiration for people’s resilience and optimism to despair and anger.

The editors have collated the testimonies of more than 20 refugees from Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Afghanistan. Some have had their claims for asylum granted and have gone on to become outstanding members of the Australian community. Munjed is a surgeon who had to leave Iraq because he refused to mutilate army deserters. Now that our society has decided not to waste his gifts, he is working again and specialising in prosthetic limbs.

My friend Jamila from Afghanistan has also told her story. She was placed in detention as a five year old child with her mother and brother. Thankfully after some time her family were re-united and she now studies law at university in Perth. Others, unfortunately continue to languish in detention.

As Maxine Beneba Clarke writes: ‘This book will make Australians ask –again – of ourselves; what kind of people are we and how did we possibly let it come to this?’

The not-for-profit group Behind the Wire is responsible for They Cannot Take the Sky. I suggest you take a look at their website – as well as information on the book they have a podcast, audio stories, videos and a series of portrait photographs. They are also currently running an outstanding exhibition at the Immigration Museum in Melbourne and I certainly hope it tours widely. It was developed in collaboration with the Museum by Behind the Wire and a volunteer reference committee of individuals with lived experience of seeking asylum.

Latest global trends report

On 23/06/2017 By More to the StoryIn Global Trends

The latest UNHCR Global Trends Report is always a sobering read. As always the statistics are overwhelming and I’m sure, like me, you ask yourself what can I do? The number one most important thing we can all do – is to stay informed. In this ‘post truth world’ with ‘alternative facts’ circulating, I think this is even more crucial.

The Global Trends Report is published every year to analyse the changes in UNHCR’s populations of concern and deepen public understanding of ongoing crises. UNHCR counts and tracks the numbers of refugees, internally displaced people, people who have returned to their countries or areas of origin, asylum-seekers, stateless people and other populations of concern to UNHCR.

In the time it has taken for you to log onto this blog and read the first two paragraphs, 20 people have been forced to flee their homes somewhere around the world. I think about this whenever I get stressed about the daily issues in my comfortable life in Australia: a flat tyre, a flooded bathroom, a flight delay, a traffic jam or not being able to get tickets to the football are really first-world problems aren’t they?

Over the past two decades, the global population of forcibly displaced people has grown substantially from 33.9 million in 1997 to 65.6 million in 2016 (up 300,000 from the previous year). The growth was concentrated between 2012 and 2015, driven mainly by the Syrian conflict. Other contributing factors were conflicts in Iraq and Yemen, as well as in sub-Saharan Africa including Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, and Sudan.

More than half (55%) of all refugees worldwide came from just three countries – Syria, Afghanistan and South Sudan.

And for the third successive year Turkey hosted the largest number of refugees worldwide – 2.9 million people. Pakistan, Lebanon, Iran, Uganda and Ethiopia followed so developing regions continue to disproportionately host the world’s refugees.

“…the protection of refugees is not only the responsibility of neighbouring states of a crisis; it is a collective responsibility of the international community.” Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General.

The report shows the trends at a glance over two introductory pages so even if you don’t read the whole report, I urge you to have a look at those and stay informed.

Giles Duley image — Photographer Giles Duley travelled to countries in the Middle East and Europe in 2015 and 2016 documenting the refugee crisis. In this image an Afghan mother hugs her child and weeps with relief on arrival on the Greek Island of Lesvos.

Singing the book

On 21/06/2017 By More to the StoryIn Refugee stories, Telling other people's stories

When a beautiful soprano sang the words Fauzia Sufizada said on her arrival in Australia I did not even try to stop my tears.

I stood still and turned my face up to the sky to let the raindrops fall on it… I will never forget how it felt on my skin and the smell of the wet soil. I looked at Farid and my boys and laughed out loud. I told them I needed a few minutes to just stand in the rain and feel freedom.

These words from More to the story – conversations with refugees were featured in ‘Uncertain Journeys’, a new work by composer Tom Henry and performed recently by the Australian Chamber Choir.

I had the opportunity to meet Tom and he says he drew inspiration for the work from contemporary accounts of separation from home, culture and family common to the refugee experience. He found a copy of More to the story at the Immigration Museum in Melbourne while doing research for his composition and used some words from both Fauzia and Farid’s stories.

The Sufizadas and I feel incredibly honoured to be part of Tom’s moving work, which also features the words of other refugees and extracts from the Ghazals (short sonnet-like poems) by the fourteenth century Persian poet known as Hafiz of Shiraz.

The Choir, under the direction of Douglas Lawrence, will be performing ‘Uncertain Journeys’ as part of a new program around the east coast of Australia before going on tour to Italy Austria and Germany.

The choir has made five CDs and given over 200 performances – many of which have been recorded for broadcast on ABC Classic FM. We have our fingers crossed that one day we might hear ‘Uncertain journeys’ on the airwaves.

AusChamberChoir2017image

It takes courage to be a refugee

On 12/06/2017 By More to the StoryIn Events, get involved

As a writer and researcher I remain concerned about the lack of empathy toward refugees and asylum seekers, as well as the simplistic narratives told by mainstream media. Refugees are vulnerable people who are fleeing war, violence and persecution in their home countries, and don’t deserve to be met with such overwhelming ignorance and fear.

Many of my friends tell me – “no-one chooses to become a refugee”.

As people who have faced persecution because of who they are (their race, nationality or membership of a persecuted group) or what they believe (their religion or political opinion), refugees need courage:

The courage not to deny identity or beliefs in the face of persecution.
The courage to leave all that is familiar and step into the unknown in search of peace.
The courage to keep going in the face of devastating loss, difficulty and despair.
The courage to begin again, to work hard and to maintain hope in an unfamiliar land.

The Australian Red Cross has listed five things to make a difference for refugees in your community, that we could all think about doing in 2017. I love the fact that the first tip is to get informed and understand the facts.

Refugee Week is Australia’s peak annual activity to raise awareness about the issues affecting refugees and celebrate the positive contributions made by refugees to Australian society – this year it will be held from 18 to 24 June. Celebrated since 1986, Refugee Week coincides with World Refugee Day on 20 June.

In Australia, the theme for Refugee Week is “With courage let us all combine”. Taken from the second verse of the national anthem, the theme celebrates the courage of refugees and of people who speak out against persecution and injustice. You can find out more about Refugee Week from the Refugee Council of Australia website.

Refugee-Week-2017

A child is a child

On 07/06/2017 By More to the StoryIn Australian Asylum Seeking Policy, Global Trends, research and reports

A new report from UNICEF highlights some alarming statistics about vulnerable children in the world. As I write millions of children are on the move across international borders, fleeing violence and conflict, disaster or poverty in pursuit of a better life.

Hundreds of thousands of these children are alone, without any support and they face UNICEF child report particularly grave risks. Unprotected, the children are easy prey for traffickers and others who abuse them. I can’t imagine how I would feel if this was my son, daughter, sister or brother who somehow got separated from me and my family. Can you?

UNICEF reports that in 2015-16 at least 300,000 unaccompanied and separated children were registered in 80 countries when they crossed borders. This is a five-fold increase from 66,000 in 2010-11. In fact the real number is likely much higher as not every child is registered. On the dangerous Central Mediterranean Sea passage from North Africa to Europe, 92 per cent of children who arrived in Italy in 2016 and the first two months of 2017 were unaccompanied, up from 75 per cent in 2015.

refugee child Save the Children reported in April this year that it was providing support to children as young as nine, who have fled war or poverty and have travelled under the radar for thousands of kilometres without a parent or guardian. “They are invisible to the authorities, and in some cases even when identified, they are placed in inadequate conditions, sometimes even detained.” As I have written previously, my own country Australia breaks numerous international laws, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, by placing children who have come seeking asylum in detention centres in the country and in off-shore island facilities. Further reading can be found the excellent website of the Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law.

Nearly all sovereign states around the world ratified the Convention on the Rights of the forgotten-children Child. They committed to respect and ensure the rights of “each child within their jurisdiction, without discrimination of any kind.” This means that all children, regardless of legal status, nationality or statelessness have the right to be protected from harm, have access to healthcare and education, to be with their family and have their interests protected.

It’s easy to forget that developing regions host 86 per cent of the world’s refugees under the UNHCR’s mandate. This means that the greatest share of responsibility falls on countries that are often ill-equipped to provide protection, while other wealthier countries take measures to reinforce their borders and stop people from arriving on their shores.

UNICEF reminds us that all children have a right to survive, thrive and fulfill their potential, to the benefit of a better world. Children can have a powerful voice – but we need to pay attention so those voices can be heard. Only then can we be informed, contribute to the conversation and influence change.

Ways of Being Here

On 31/05/2017 By More to the StoryIn Refugee stories, Refugees in WA, Telling other people's stories

Diverse voices matter in Australia more than ever. Ways of being here is pocket book-sized collection of four short stories that showcases the work of four t Ways of Being Here cover alented African writers living in Australia – Raefeif Ismail, Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes, Tinashe Jakwa and Yout A Alaak.

Maxine Beneba Clarke writes in her introduction: “Black people of African descent – black diaspora settlers and migrants and descendants of such – have been living in Australia for over 200 years. Yet local African diaspora fiction has been markedly absent from Australian shelves”.

Ways of being here is a terrific read. You can read it slowly, dipping into it over time, or in a few hours on an afternoon or evening you might have free. Either way, I guarantee you will want to read it several times. These beautifully written stories will capture your imagination and your attention. The four write of love, loss, the challenge of living between cultures, intergenerational clashes, of being made welcome and of being isolated.

Rafeif Ismail’s moving story, ‘Light at the end’, about two young women has language that sings off the page with emotion. He writes: “When did you become this desperate, desolate thing? When did the world’s colours dull and laughter have a price? Fear is the chain you wear, shackling you between walls of loneliness, shame, regret and, most terribly, hope.”

Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes story, ‘When the sky looks like the belly of a donkey’, tackles the cultural challenges of starting a new life in Australia – a place so different from your home country. Yirga also captures what could be a group of typical Aussie blokes with insightful writing. The story about Ermi, usually mis-pronounced by many of his workmates as Army, is one I have heard from many migrants and people of refugee background. It is about starting at the bottom of the ladder, trying to fit in and always missing the people left behind. I laughed and I cringed but by the end of the story I smiled with hope.

All four short stories provide a valuable opportunity to reflect about the lives of others.

Ways of being here is published by Margaret River Press and the Centre for Stories, 2017