The faith to flee and live
GEELONG’S rich tapestry of cultures has been strengthened by the influx of around 2000 refugees over the past five years.
The families — from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Myanmar and many other places — have fled persecution, war and terror in search of a better life for themselves and their families.
Often, the families have sacrificed everything they have known, leaving with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They have arrived in Australia with no English and no support.
Diversitat — Geelong’s multicultural body — provides the missing pillar of support. This past week the region’s refugee population was celebrated through many events highlighting national Refugee Week.
“For us, Refugee Week is about the importance of celebrating our community and our refugees,” Diversitat chief executive officer Michael Martinez said.
“It is important for us to look at the needs of our refugee community.”
Two Geelong refugee families have shared their story to increase the general public’s understanding of Geelong’s growing refugee community. HE Habash family’s modest living room is filled with warmth. A traditional Iraqi meal is bubbling on the stove.
Steaming coffee from their homeland has been poured into delicate, silver-rimmed cups.
The normality of the neat living room hides the horrors the family of six have faced. They have sacrificed everything to flee a reign of terror that could have left them dead.
Father Najeeb, mother Loureeda Ash and children Christian, Luma, Mary and Ewan made the splitsecond decision to jump into their sedan and drive as fast as they could in August 2014.
ISIS was just one hour away from bombing Bakhdida, the small Christian majority farming community on the outskirts of Iraq. The family took nothing but the clothes on their backs when they fled to the relative safety of nearby were Christian, fled. But some didn’t have cars. They were killed by ISIS or taken hostage.
“We lost everything … but there was no choice,” Mr Habash said.
“You had three choices — be a Muslim, pay money or be killed.”
However life there was not much better. Mary, Luma and their mother had rocks pelted at them in the street because they were not wearing traditional Muslim dress.
Suddenly the family struck gold. They were given refugee status by Australia.
“We thought, ‘This is amazing. There is hope for a new life’,” Mr Habash said.
On August 3, 2016 the family arrived in Geelong speaking no English. They moved to Wandana Heights and the girls started school at Sacred Heart College.
“Then we had hope so we forgot the pain,” Mr Habash said.
Other family members — including Mr Habash’s parents and nieces and nephews — have also moved to Geelong. The city’s relatively large Iraqi community gather regularly, throwing huge feasts at Christmas and Easter.
Their life here is not the same as home but Mr Habash says without respect, dignity or freedom, Iraq is no longer his home.
“I miss people, I miss my friends, I miss my relatives,” Mr Habash said.
“But we lost respect and dignity — so we lost out homeland.”
To mark Refugee Week, Diversitat is throwing many events recognising the city’s newest members. Villawood Properties used its Ring Road letters to form the hashtag #withrefugees.
But Mr Habash wants to use the opportunity to thank Geelong.
“To the people of Geelong, me and my friends cannot thank you enough,” Mr Habash said. HEN Azizeh Mohseni stepped off the plane on to Australian soil, she felt true freedom for the first time in her life.
Aged just 19 Ms Mohseni — who spoke no English — moved from Iran to Australia in 2004 for hope and for a chance.
Iran was the only home Ms Mohseni had ever known but it was a place that denied her freedom, education and basic human rights.
Ms Mohseni’s parents were born in Afghanistan — her mum was a high school-educated house wife and her father a respected civil engineer. They owned property and were highly-regarded in the community.
Their education turned out to be their demise.
When rebel forces attacked Afghanistan, they targeted highly educated, successful people.
Fearing for their lives Ms Mohseni’s parents fled Afghanistan to nearby Iran. They paid people smugglers to help them across the border.
“It was risky and it was dangerous,” Ms Mohseni said.
Iran accepted them as refugees but stripped the Mohsenis of all rights.
“We were never recognised as citizens,” Ms Mohseni said.
“Afghanis didn’t have the right to study, didn’t have the right to work or to own property. You couldn’t even own a mobile phone.”
Ms Mohseni — the eldest of seven children — was born a year after her parents settled in Iran.
Her dad managed to pick up work as an engineer, but was always fearful of what would happen if the government discovered he was not an Iranian citizen.
Other members of the Mohsenis’ family — including her uncle — also fled to Iran but their lack of rights forced them back to Afghanistan.
“My uncle was a doctor — but in Iran he couldn’t do his job so he went back. A year later he passed away,” Ms Mohseni said.
For about 15 years the Mohsenis managed to survive in Iran. The family paid to allow Ms Mohseni to school and her dad held a job. Then things got worse.
Ms Mohseni’s dad lost his job and education conditions became worse.
“I was able to go to school but Afghanis could not go to university,” Ms Mohseni said. “Then there were new rules and my siblings couldn’t go to school. Education was so important to my family; they all had degrees or high school education.
“Not going to school had a really big impact on my parents and my siblings — they were isolated.”
With no option of university or gaining skilled employment, Ms Mohseni married at 18. She was able to do short courses but they were not formally recognised.
Desperate to escape their hopeless situation the family tried to seek asylum in another country. Finally they were granted visas to Australia.
“We wouldn’t have survived (in Iran). We were living in the cities — but (Afghani) refugees were being sent to camps,” Ms Mohseni said.
When the family arrived in Australia, only Ms Mohseni’s younger brother spoke basic English and so acted as the family translator.
The Mohsenis were the first Afghani family to settle in Geelong and helped establish leadership for the growing community. Ms Mohseni learned English, sat her VCE and studied social work at Deakin University. She has worked at Diversitat for seven years.
She has two children — Sanaz, 14, and Arshia, 7, — and her husband Reza is a tradesman. “I’m really proud of (my family) and I always encourage others from Afghanistan to get involved in the community to be positive role models,” she said.