Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I recently had the honour and privilege of meeting a group of young Tamil refugees who have experienced the horrors of the genocide in Sri Lanka which continues to this day. I wish to read a statement that was written by a Tamil refugee to highlight their experience of this genocide as well as the ongoing violence suffered as a result of our immigration system, which is full of torture. This is his statement.

I am 33 years old but only when I was 10 my father was killed. He was simply a fisherman and was contributing for the Eelam Tamils in our homeland.

In 2009 in Mullivaikkal our own homeland, the so-called no fire zone. A zone the Sri Lankan government said was specifically made to not kill us. But the Sri Lankan government made all of us go to that area and continuously bombed, raped and massacred us till half of us were killed just for being Eelam Tamil. I am a witness to this.

I was there and bombs were dropped only metres away. People were shot in front of me while they were still in the bunkers. It has been 10 years since I came to Australia full of hope that I would have a permanent and safe home. But whilst I am on Temporary Protection Visa and the announcement about permanent visas has been made, many of my friends are waiting.

My friends are not sure and their mental health has decreased. We are worried as some have been admitted to the hospital with suicidal thoughts. We were forced out of our own homeland and came to a land where we have contributed to Australian society. Some have opened new businesses to help others. Only last year in November my friend died due to suicide with still an uncertainty of his future. We all want to have permanency. It has been more than 6 months since labour has come into power we were all so hopeful—

What a joke!—

but now we are again slowly losing hope.

People on bridging visas are unable to marry, have a permanent job, start a business or even buy a house with our visas. We are scared we will be sent back and knowing that we will be detained and most probably continuously harassed. Our own homeland is being taken away and we have nothing to back to. We want to live with our families in Australia and bring them to safety. We all deserve peace in Australia and an acknowledgement of the ongoing genocide in our homeland Tamil Eelam. I have so much more to say but due to time constraints I have shortened my story. Thank you for listening to my story but this is the story of thousands of refugees who are currently either outside protesting or in Australia waiting for hope.