Hundreds of people join a rally calling on the government to provide a pathway to citizenship for 30,000 people

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Hundreds have protested outside the home affairs department in Sydney against the continuing use of temporary visas for people found to be refugees.

Bridging visas and temporary visas have been widely criticised for the damaging effects they have on holders, and the department has previously been accused of “strategically” using the process to deny protection.

Rally attendees held signs that said “I miss my mum”, while others held photos of their children when they last saw them next to photos of them now, much older.

Ali Nayyef, an Iraqi refugee and one of the rally organisers, said most of those who attended the protest were temporary or bridging visa holders, and others were wanting to reunite with their family.

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Nayyef said he had been on a rolling three-year safe haven enterprise visa since 2015. He had seen his children once, in 2017, after obtaining special permission to travel and meet them in Iran.

“When I was [last in Iraq] my kid was four months, she is now eight years old. The older one, Joseph, is 15,” he told Guardian Australia.

“There is always talking, but [we don’t have] a very good relationship because children need hugs, they need care, they need a father with them.

“Everyone knows if you have kids you can’t be separate a day, but what about years? I’m not a politician but I’m asking if they have kids or not. If someone didn’t see their son or daughter, could they not see them for a day? For us, our hearts are broken.”

Around 30,000 people are in Australia on temporary protection visas (TPVs) and safe haven enterprise visas (Shevs), which only grant three or five years residency.

They have access to limited social security benefits, Medicare, counselling, and work rights – although Shev holders must study or work in regional Australia. Once it expires they must have their refugee claim reassessed.

Since last year the government has been stripping support services from the holders of the six-month bridging visas, prompting warnings it would send some into destitution and homelessness.

Temporary visas holders often struggle find to find employment because of the short-term guarantee of their residency.

They have no capacity to reunite with their families and must ask permission to travel to other countries, and some people have not seen their children in years.

Dr Anthea Vogl (@antheavogl) The protest ends with a letter delivered to DHA demanding permanency, a pathway to citizenship and the right to family reunion. pic.twitter.com/Nou5MTq0tX

The Australian government maintains that temporary protection visas are one of the “three pillars” of its border protection policy, along with boat turnbacks and offshore processing.

“One of the most important things to remember with the temporary visas is that these are people who have been recognised as refugees and gone through a difficult process in having the Australian government accept them,” said Dr Anthea Vogl, refugee and migration law academic at the University of Technology, Sydney.

“There are a range of difficulties, but most urgently people have no capacity to establish a life in Australia in they’re only given three to five years of uncertainty to live in the community.”

Vogl said people were stopped from establishing a life, and were rendered “permanently impermanent”.

“There is no pathway to a permanent visa once you have a temporary protection visa,” she said.

Nayyef said he fully respected the decisions and rules of the Australian government because he was now “a part of this country and this is our duty”.

But he said the rally was a peaceful call for change, for an end to temporary visas and for a process of family reunions and pathways to citizenship.

“We need a permanent visa, we are a part of this country,” he said.

“Australia is a small world – it has many cultures here. The people of Australia are very kind, if you ask for directions they will help you arrive at your destination.

“Our emotion is here, we love Australia. I don’t know the game for the political and the parties, and we don’t care. We are just simple people.”