I went to nine different schools growing up, as my father was travelling back and forth from Australia to India for work. It was so hard to be constantly packing up and leaving, and I had many days when I would cry. Unfortunately, I experienced bullying in both...
The first time we tried to leave Vietnam, the boat sank. At that time, I was only 4, but I remember being on Dad’s back while he swam to the shore. Mum and Dad were separated, and one year earlier, she had left by boat for Hong Kong with the intention of supporting my...
When I left Pakistan, I was so hysterical my father had to literally hold me up to coax me onto the flight! Dad had initially applied for our whole family to come to Australia, but was rejected because of his age. However, the letter said, ‘We note your daughter Mary...
Both Imran and I are qualified accountants but for some time we could not get accountancy work, despite applying for many jobs. It didn’t matter that we had good qualifications and several years of experience from Kenya. Everyone said we needed Australian experience....
I'm a banking lawyer. I’ve got a very Australian accent. Sometimes people say things to me like that refugees are not really refugees, that they are just business opportunists. I then say, ‘Well, I’m a refugee from Laos, does that change your opinion?’ With that,...
