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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.
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A secretive ordeal stretched over the better part of a decade was, for about 60 refugees and asylum seekers, over without warning in a matter of days.
Across seven years the group had been detained in squalid offshore camps housed on remote islands, locked-up inside detention centres on the mainland, and, finally, shut inside inner-city hotels.
The ordeal ended when the Australian government did something many thought it would never do: releasing the group, who came to the Australian mainland under the now-repealed Medevac legislation, into the community on six-month temporary visas where they will be able to live freely for the first time in years.
By Danielle Kutchel
This year’s Australia Day Honours list includes three pillars of the Greater Dandenong community, recognised for their contributions to a diverse range of causes.
Former mayor and councillor Frank Holohan, charity president Joe Rechichi and RSL volunteer Leslie Hughes are Greater Dandenong’s newest OAMs.
Mr Holohan received his honour “for service to the community of Dandenong, and to local government“.
Mr Rechichi was awarded “for service to the community through charitable initiatives“.
Mr Hughes received his OAM “for service to veterans, and to the community“.
Mr Holohan served as mayor of Dandenong City Council from 1984-1985 and 1977-1978, and as councillor from1993-1994 and 1973-1990. He is known for his work with the City of Dandenong Housing Co-operative, the Dandenong Sewerage Authority, Dandenong Foster Care Westernport Building, the Dandenong Valley Authority and is a life governor at Dandenong Hospital.
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A third group of refugees brought to Australia under now-repealed Medevac legislation have been released from immigration detention in Melbourne, a week after 46 fellow detainees were free on temporary visas with little warning.
At least 12 men are believed to have been released from Melbourne s Immigration Transit Accommodation shortly after midday on Thursday, according to advocates, after being granted six-month bridging visas that allow them to live and work in the community.
Advocates say another refugee was released after being transferred from the Park Hotel in Carlton, which has been used as a makeshift immigration detention centre, and two more from other locations.