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As the Taliban progressed in Afghanistan, an Afghan refugee who had been detained by Australian immigrants for eight years went to court to try to ensure the emergency evacuation of his family.
This refugee can only be identified as FGS20 for the safety of his family. This is a pseudonym used in court proceedings and has worked with coalition forces in Afghanistan.
He fled the country in 2013 and tried to bring his family to safety, but was imprisoned in Australia. He could only watch the situation in his hometown deteriorate and his family was attacked because of his work.
He said that since his arrival in Australia, the Taliban had found and killed 15 close relatives, including his brother.
“Now the Taliban are coming to arrest my wife and children,” he told Al Jazeera. “The only thing I left.”
FGS20 has four children and has never seen them or his wife since he left Australia nine years ago.
One of his children was evacuated to France at the end of July, but his wife and three other children remained in the capital, Kabul.
As the Taliban crossed Afghanistan and their window of escape was closing, FGS20 is now launching a desperate effort to get help from Australia.
In July 2021, FGS20 took the Australian government to court, arguing that Australia prevented him from rescuing his family and the government was responsible for bringing them to Australia.
FGS20 lawyer Noeline Balasanthiran Harendran and Daniel Taylor of the Western Sydney Department of Law and Immigration told Al Jazeera: “The Australian government prevented him from saving his family, which disappointed him.” “They should thank his family for rescuing them and giving them. protect.”
Although FGS20 was identified as a refugee, he was still detained and had no right to take his family to Australia because he himself did not have a visa to sponsor them.
Although his wife and children have passports, they will not be allowed to board the plane without their own valid visas. The flight itself is getting harder and harder to find.
“Because he has been detained [and unable to work], He has no money either [get] They go out,” Taylor said.
On Monday, Taliban militants stood guard in the city of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan, one of the many cities occupied by the armed group as it stepped up its efforts across the country. [Abdullah Sahil/AP Photo]FGS20 requires at least AU$100,000 (US$73,558) to pay for family tolls.
“For eight years, I [have been] Ask the Australian government [to] Please help me,” FGS20 said. “They don’t listen to me, they imprison me, they take my power away…I can’t do anything-what can I do? “
Race against time
According to Australia’s immigration laws, anyone who attempts to arrive in the country by sea without citizenship or valid documents will be detained, with a few exceptions.
When FGS20 first arrived on Christmas Island, an Australian territory off the south coast of Java Island, Indonesia, he was taken to Manus Island in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and then one of Australia’s notorious offshore detention camps.
“It’s like a prison, like Guantanamo Prison,” he said.
“[No-one is] Allow to see… what’s going on inside”
In January 2015, he was officially recognized as a refugee, but he was detained in PNG for another four years.
Even after the closure of the detention center in 2017, the “hell-like” conditions endured by those detained on the island have been condemned by a series of international human rights organizations.
He said that during Manus Island, FGS20 had limited contact with his family, which made him very worried.
Before he was granted refugee status, he was only allowed to make two short phone calls and once to surf the Internet once a week. Even after that, according to one of the many arbitrary regulations supporting Australia’s immigration detention system, his phone calls were limited to only once a week.
In July 2019, according to the Medical Evacuation Act, he was taken from Papua New Guinea to Australia. This is a short-term medical evacuation legislation that was repealed later that year and was detained in four different places in Australia. Place.
At the same time, the situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate.
Last year, FGS20 asked twice to return to Papua New Guinea, where he thought he could apply to take his family out of Afghanistan and work in order to earn enough money to pay their tolls or seek help from the US Embassy.
His lawyer said that the government did not take any action to facilitate these requests.
FGS20 said he has no indication of when he will be released, and he wants to know why he was detained.
“A generation [asked] Immigration “Am I a refugee now?” They said,’Yes, you are a refugee’,” he said.
“I said,’If Australia doesn’t want me, send me to… another country, why did you keep me here?’ But they didn’t listen.”
In May of this year, the coalition forces began to withdraw from Afghanistan, and the Taliban began an all-out offensive.
In less than a week, six provincial capitals have fallen into the hands of the Taliban.
In July, the United States announced that it would withdraw thousands of Afghan interpreters and translators who had worked for the US military and their immediate family members. The first 200 vehicles arrived in the United States at the end of last month.
Last week, FGS20 lawyers applied for a 203 emergency rescue visa on behalf of his family. There is no indication whether any measures have been or will be taken.
In commenting on this article, a spokesperson for the Department of the Interior said: “Since this matter is currently in court, it is not appropriate to comment on the specifics of the case. Detainees provide benefits.”
On Friday, FGS20 lawyers filed a request with the court to make an urgent decision on their family’s visa application.
FGS20 was too stressed last night and couldn’t sleep. He said that if the government does not take action, he will lose his family.
However, he is still waiting and is being held in the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation (MITA), where he has been held since April.
“If my family dies, I will die here,” he said.
“If I don’t have a family, I don’t need my life.”
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