Afghanistan-Australian family reunited after court action challenging visa delays
An Afghanistan-Australian father has been reunited with his wife and four children after four years of visa delays, and following the Australian Government conceding defeat in a court case brought by the family.
Abdullah, who has permanent refugee protection in Australia, applied to be reunited with his wife Fatima and their children back in 2017.
Fatima and the children had been living as refugees in Pakistan after a missile attack destroyed their home in Afghanistan, killing one child and seriously injuring another. Meanwhile Abdullah, who is legally blind and unable to work, had been living alone in Australia without his family.
After years of waiting, the family took court action against the Australian Government in February this year, represented by the Human Rights Law Centre. The case argued that the government had failed in its legal obligation to process the visa application within a reasonable time.
Evidence in the case suggested that the Department of Home Affairs had taken no action at all to process the visa application for prolonged periods of time. Just weeks before the final court hearing, the government acknowledged it would concede the case. The family’s visas were issued shortly afterwards, and the case was discontinued. Fatima, Abdullah and their four children have now finally been reunited in Adelaide.
As the world marks one year of Taliban rule in Afghanistan today, thousands of Australians remain separated from loved ones still in Afghanistan, where the humanitarian situation is increasingly dire.
While this family are relieved to be together again, there are other families that continue to be separated for years while their visa applications have stalled. Many are impacted by cruel policies that intentionally exclude or de-prioritise people who travelled to Australia by sea.
The new Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Andrew Giles, has acknowledged the crisis in family visa processing within the Department of Home Affairs, but is yet to announce any steps to address it. The Human Rights Law Centre is calling on the Albanese government to take urgent action to address visa processing delays and reunite families that have been cruelly separated for years by the former government’s punitive policies.
Abdullah said:
“I waited so many years to be with my family. Being reunited with them is a relief. I wish that the Australian government could have processed the visas faster. There are lots of other people just like us – if the government can act faster on their visas, that would mean a whole new world for those families.”
Josephine Langbien, Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said:
“While we are relieved that Fatima, Abdullah and their children are finally together again, living in safety here in Australia, they should never have been forced to go to court just to get the government to do its job and process a visa application. Australia’s broken family migration system has wasted years of their lives, and forced them to live in danger, for no good reason.
“Granting the visas was the right thing to do, but it also meant the government avoided having to answer for its failures in court. Thousands of other families are still waiting to be reunited after years apart, and without any explanation for the delay. If the Albanese government does not swiftly address these delays, Fatima and Abdullah will not be the last family forced to take court action.
“Australia promised to help the people of Afghanistan, including families who are separated. But help isn’t coming fast enough. The Australian government must step up its commitment to the people of Afghanistan and move much faster to deliver the help it promised.”
Arif Hussein Senior Lawyer at the Refugee Advice and Casework Service, and an organiser for the Action for Afghanistan campaign said:
“It is wonderful to see this family reunited, but the government needs to now do the same for the thousands of people in Afghanistan who are also seeking safety for their families.
“Families from Afghanistan have been separated, some for decades. This is exacerbated tenfold during the crisis. The scale of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is reflected in the number of people who have sought protection from the Australian government. It’s important to remember many of these applicants are immediate family members of those in Australia: wives, husbands and children.
“Our new government must take the opportunity for concrete action for other people from Afghanistan by committing to and implementing a one-off 20,000 humanitarian intake of the most vulnerable people, especially minority groups such as the Hazaras and women and children – whilst also reuniting families.”
Image credit: ABC
Media contact:
Evan Schuurman, Media and Communications Manager, 0406 117 937, evan.schuurman@hrlc.org.au.