Medevac detainees in Brisbane released with others in Darwin and Sydney also expected to walk free msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Ethiopian refugee Betelhem Tebubu has been living in Australia legally for four years but every six months she is forced to briefly revisit her experiences in immigration detention.
The 28-year-old dreads the twice-yearly calls she gets from immigration officials, who remind her of the limitations of her bridging visa.
Before the pandemic shut down in-person services, she said she was forced to travel to the immigration office where she was detained for up to eight hours while her visa renewal documents were signed and she was once again legally allowed to be in the country. They used to send us a message saying bring your medication, food, and water because you are [going to be] detained all day, she told SBS News from Melbourne, where she now lives.
As of November last year, more than 12,000 refugees and asylum seekers who arrived in Australia illegally by boat were living in the community on short-term bridging visas, according to government figures.
Brisbane hospital returns refugee back to unsafe immigration detention, doctors say msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.