Stephen Bates (Brisbane, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I want to share a story of a young man in my electorate who came to Australia as an asylum seeker who has had his life sitting in limbo since. These are his words:

My name is Mohammed Hasani. I want you to hear my words. I arrived in Australia nearly 14 years ago as a 12-year-old boy. When I arrived, I was a child. I didn't know anything about the government or Australian rules around immigration. I just wondered if Australia was a safe country, and knew that my father, brother and I came here to be set. My country is dangerous and there is no future there for children. I knew how to play—I was a child; I didn't make a choice to come to Australia. I didn't decide to leave my country. I was a child and my family were trying to keep me safe.

I was surprised about how I was treated. Locked up in detention, treated badly by the Australian government. I didn't come here to make any trouble; I came here to find safety and build a future. My entire future has consistently been beaten down and destroyed because of the government. I have been away from my mother, my entire family for almost 14 years. I have not seen my mother since I was a child. My heart is in pain for her. How is this fair? I feel I am constantly trying to make a life but building towards a future that is blank.

I want everyone to listen to my story, and so many people have the same situation and the same story, young people especially. I ask why I am being punished for a decision that was not mine. I came here as a child. I went to school; I graduated, and my dreams of becoming a police officer or firefighter, a computer technician, getting married, having children and having a home have all been consistently shattered.

My future is blank, my life and future completely in the hands of government and policymakers. I did not come here to do any wrong. I was a child. I'm now almost 27 years old—a grown man—and still my hands are tied. I cannot do anything; I cannot move forward. I keep getting told to wait, wait, wait: just wait for change. But when is this nightmare going to be over for me? Do you know what it feels like to have your entire future being crushed between two rocks? Or being held over a cliff's edge, able to be taken away at any time? When will this fear end for me and for other people in my situation?

In my country I have no future. I have lived in Australia for more than half my life. In Australia, I have no future. While I'm physically safe, my life is being taken away from me and I am dying slowly each day. I thought Australia upheld human rights. How is this upholding the right to be safe, to belong, to live—to live in a country and contribute to this country?

My father brought my brother and I here. Do you know how hard it is to start a whole new life, especially when we have no rights and are not wanted here? I live each day anticipating when this will end and in fear of the life I have managed to build, despite the government's cruelty, being ripped from underneath me. When I heard there was going to be an election coming, I, and many people in my situation, had so much hope for change and a quicker resolution to end our suffering so we can live in peace, but I still don't see any change for me or for others like me. I cannot live like this forever. When I came here, I was a child. Now I am a man. How many more years, how old will I be? How much more of my life will pass before the government decides to make changes?

I want you all to listen to my story and make it so that no child will ever have to face this situation again. If you cannot give me permanent residency or a visa with rights, I want you at least to give me the opportunity to work and contribute to my community so I can have some hope for the future: for freedom, for the chance to live a normal life like everyone else. Despite over a decade of suffering, we will always have hope in the Australian government to do the right thing. I will always have hope. I just want you to think about the situation I am in. Can anyone live a life like this, with no future or no hope?