It’s not surprising that the former immigration minister, who also used to throw refugee children in detention, would stoop to victim blaming.
How shameful that people who come from positions of power and privilege are suggesting that Priya and Nades somehow brought this nightmare on themselves that the reason their children are in detention is because they dared to have them at all?
Blaming refugees and attacking basic human rights, like the right to have children, while they are forced to wait years to hear the outcome of citizenship applications or the right to just apply for citizenship, highlights the cruel nature of temporary visas and the terrible impact they have on the refugees’ lives.
Back in February, Hossein told me he considered himself lucky to be determined a refugee by the Australian Border Force as part of Operation Sovereign Borders.
“I passed the interview and the rules which decide who is a genuine refugee. Many people from my country got negative statements. I was one of the lucky people who received a positive statement; it means I cannot be sent back to my country, back to danger.
“I arrived from Manus to Kangaroo Point, Brisbane on November 7, 2019 under the Medevac law. Now, I’m still here. I received 3 months of treatment, then the treatment finished.”