Wellsprings for Women manager Ann Halpin (left) with Hakima and her daughter Nagiya, who no longer face deportation, and Wellsprings visitation officer Jenny Barnden.By Nathan Johnston
HAKIMA Haidari and her family lived with the threat of deportation for almost five years before last week’s notification of imminent citizenship brought relief.
The Dandenong family can now move ahead with the new lives they have made since arriving in Australia as refugees on a boat.
They were among hundreds of people smuggled from Indonesia after initially fleeing wartorn Afghanistan.
Hakima’s father was killed in the war.
She recently made contact with her mother for the first time in three years after she was found in Iran.
Hakima, her husband Hamid and children Amir, Najma and Nagiya have settled into a modest flat.
Hamid found employment at a Dandenong factory, the two oldest children are at school, and Nagiya starts kindergarten next year.
It’s a long way from the horrors of the Afghanistan war, a harrowing eightday boat trip and five months in a Darwin refugee camp.
“There were too many people on the boat, and lots of children,” Hakima said.
She travelled with Hamid and her two oldest children, aged three and one at the time.
“There was not much food, but there was water.”
Hakima said conditions at the refugee camp were hot and confined, but the children were given toys and they were pleased to be together as a family.
She said time passed slowly in the camp, but she now considers herself fortunate.
“Five months was long enough, but when I hear that some people we knew in the camp are still there now, I think I’m very lucky,” she said.
The family was released from the camp and spent two months in special accommodation in central Melbourne before Hamid made contact with an Afghan friend who recommended Dandenong as a place to live.
The family survived on Centrelink payments and moved into a flat.
Wellsprings for Women, a Dandenongbased support organisation, made immediate contact with the family and organised regular visits from volunteer Jenny Barnden, who ensured the family settled in.
The organisation also helped the family during the tribunal appearances they endured to obtain citizenship. Wellsprings director Ann Halpin described the process as a long and painful journey.
“There were times when they were very depressed. It has taken a big toll,” she said.
That worry was compounded by the fact Hakima didn’t know of the whereabouts of her mother.
“There were three years when I didn’t know where my mother was, or even whether she was alive,” she said.
Finally, with the help of the Red Cross and Hamid’s family, Hakima was able to contact her mother, and has continued to do regularly since late last year.
“She is still ill, but I’m hoping she can come to Australia,” Hakima said.
Hakima is now looking forward to getting a job of her own when Nagiya starts school.
“I’d like to start English classes again. It is hard with the children. I like sewing and I’d also like to do a computer class,” she said.
“I am very happy now. I was waiting for a very long time.”
