because my miserable life was over and new horizons of life with its fortune and opportunities were welcoming us. Howeve
PRESENTATION TO REFUGEE WEEK 2012 SYDNEY LAUNCH Nooria Wazefadost Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and acknowledge the Indigenous owners of this land and all other Australians for welcoming refugees. I am very grateful that I have been given an opportunity to talk about my experiences as a refugee in this important week. My name is Nooria Wazefadost and I was born in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. My family and I came to Australia by boat in September 2000. As you are all aware, Afghanistan has had a history of barbarism, crimes, brutalities and atrocities for so many years. I would like to share my pain and grief with the most concerned, most amazing and most caring people in the world – Australians. My family left Afghanistan in 2000. We escaped from persecution and unfair treatment to women. We had heard the terrible and horrifying sounds of rockets and all kinds of artilleries where bombs continually fell around our house. We didn’t have the right to be educated or have access to health, freedom, or in other words no opportunities or rights at all. We finally realised that there were no opportunities and safety for us to stay in Afghanistan any longer. So we decided to migrate elsewhere. Our prolonged journey to Australia was very risky as we experienced the harsh environment of stormy weather. Me, my family and other refugees on the boat were always so close to drowning. Can you imagine a child drowning without a drop of water? Nothing was in our perspective except the darkness of the sky and the horrible sounds of the ocean which wanted to swallow us alive. After travelling for 10 days, finally on September 2000 our boat was guided by an Australian Navy Force. We landed on Australian land safely. I was happy because my miserable life was over and new horizons of life with its fortune and opportunities were welcoming us. However, we were locked up in the Curtin Immigration Detention Centre for almost three months. We were then given the Temporary Protection Visa for three years, which expired. Our future was then uncertain. The Temporary Protection Visa was meant to be for three years but it took almost four years for us to be given permanent residency. I first enrolled at Holroyd Intensive English Centre. After that I started high school at Holroyd High School in Year 10. I completed my HSC in 2004. The experiences at Holroyd High were the best. I learned important principles such as respect, humanity and fairness. I met the school principal Dorothy Hoddinott who helped my family and also helped with my education and to help us achieve our permanent residency.
After school, I completed an Advanced Diploma at Ultimo TAFE and then enrolled in a Bachelor of Business at university. I fell in love and in 2008, I married a very kind man Ahmad. I am now back at the Holroyd Intensive English Centre – this time working as a Teacher’s Aide and a Community Liaison Officer to assist students in community detention. In this role I help the students focus on their education. I am also a member of the Hazara Women of Australia Association, helping to raise awareness of Hazara women’s rights. Today I am fortunate to enjoy a safe place in this great, sprawling country. Thank you all for being here to observe Refugee Week. Refugee Week allows refugees like me and all other refugees in Australia and all over the world to celebrate as one and share experiences. I hope that Refugee Week draws attention to the plight of refugees, celebrates their courage and resilience and renews a commitment to solving refugee problems. It is also an opportunity to recognise the contributions that refugees make to the country that hosts them. I wish and hope that I continue to work on myself to be a better person, a better citizen of this country and to do my best to contribute to my home, my land Australia and for my fellow Australians to be proud of me. Thank you.
