It was a letter that shook Rana*, her husband and their two children and left them facing an uncertain future.
Key points:
- Refugee advocates fear an increased risk of homelessness because of COVID-19
- Rana and her family have been evicted from their Sydney home
- Charities are forced to shoulder the burden of supporting these new visa holders
Last month Rana and her family received news from the Department of Home Affairs announcing they were being moved out of community detention and placed onto final departure bridging visas — giving them six months to leave the country.
The Iranian asylum seekers would be given work rights for the first time and access to Medicare but would be stripped of all other government support, including housing and income assistance.
"I was shocked when we received the letter," the 35-year-old mother said.
With just three weeks' notice, the family has been evicted from their two-bedroom house in Villawood in Sydney's west.
Rana and her husband are now desperately searching for a job but after years of being denied the right to work or study it is proving difficult.
"It's really hard to find a job during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for us," Rana said.
"If workers here are losing their jobs, how are we supposed to find a job?"
The family fled Iran because of religious persecution and arrived in Australia in 2013.
They spent time on Christmas Island and then Nauru before being transferred to Darwin in 2013.
They were in community detention in Darwin before being taken to Brisbane and they have been in Sydney for two years.
But now the family faces an anxious wait as they can apply for another bridging visa when the six months is up — but there's no certainty the Government will approve it.
Rana and her family are among 270 asylum seekers who have suddenly been placed on six-month final departure bridging E visas and told to leave the country.
Many of them have been living in community detention in Australia after being transferred from offshore detention centres in Nauru or Papua New Guinea to address acute health issues.
The Department of Home Affairs said their new visas allowed them "to temporarily reside in the Australian community while they finalise their arrangement to leave Australia".
Since 2017, the Government has been gradually moving asylum seekers in community detention onto final departure visas.
Refugee advocates say this latest move is particularly cruel because of the timing.
The director of policy at the Refugee Council of Australia Rebecca Eckard said this cohort of asylum seekers was at "increased risk of homelessness as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting recession".
"Many of them really want to find jobs but trying to find a job during a recession is difficult — and with no local experience, people are finding it really tough."
She said the assumption that they would be able find a place to rent was also highly unlikely.
"They have no prior rental experience, there's no way for them to save up to be able to afford the bond to be able to rent."
Charities are likely to shoulder the burden of supporting these new visa holders in the short term.
The director of the Jesuit Refugee Service Australia, Carolina Gottardo fears the organisation will be overwhelmed by requests for assistance.
"This is going to be very, very hard for the longer term in terms of charities that are already overstretched and under resourced.
"And it's really not sustainable in the longer term that the Federal Government change its responsibility — that is their responsibility — into the charity sector."
The Department of Home Affairs has made it clear to these asylum seekers that there is no pathway for them to permanent residency in Australia.
"The Government's policy is clear —no one who attempts illegal maritime travel to Australia will be permanently settled here," it said in a statement.
Instead they have three options — to return to offshore detention, to go home or resettle in a third country.
None of those options are feasible for Rana and her family.
For now, she is relying on the generosity of friends and charities to survive one day at a time.
*name changed to protect her identity
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiXmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTEwLTI3L2FzeWx1bS1zZWVrZXJzLXBsYWNlZC1vbi1maW5hbC1kZXBhcnR1cmUtdmlzYXMvMTI4MTQ0MzDSASdodHRwczovL2FtcC5hYmMubmV0LmF1L2FydGljbGUvMTI4MTQ0MzA?oc=5
2020-10-26 18:13:00Z
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