''We had nothing,'' Mr Akbari said when they were moved into the Dandenong South unit in February. ''My wife is having a baby but we had to sleep on the floor, which caused her to be in pain. But what could we do?'' They did not know where to go for help, but they accepted that sleeping on a cold, damp floor in Australia was far better than the persecution they suffered at the hands of a ''very bad government'' in Iran. ''I was working in a bank before the government locked me in a jail cell that was one metre wide for 65 days,'' said Mr Akbari, who is afraid to give his real name after being warned by immigration officials against speaking to the media. ''It was very, very bad, so we are very happy to be in Australia and very happy to be in a freedom country.'' He explained through an interpreter that after his release from jail they fled to Indonesia before boarding a packed fishing boat in September and making the journey through ''very scary'' seas to Australia. They spent three months in detention on Christmas Island, where Hanel became pregnant. They proudly refer to their soon-to-be-born son as ''an Australian baby''.

Mr Akbari said they were ''very happy'' when told they would be allowed to live in the community while their claims for political asylum were processed - even though they owned only the clothes they were wearing when they moved into the unit. And until last week, when the Tamil Refugee Council was notified of their situation, the couple had no bed or any other furniture. For several months the charity has been sourcing second-hand furniture across Melbourne and dropping it off to needy asylum seekers from all backgrounds. A cot, pram and baby bath were among several items the Akbaris have received. ''We are very thankful and grateful for everything we have received and can't find how to say thank you to the people who have helped us,'' Mr Akbari said. Tamil Refugee Council spokesman Trevor Grant said the treatment of asylum seekers on bridging visas was leading to a dangerous ''poverty trap''. ''These people can't help themselves because anyone who arrived here after August 13 isn't allowed to work, so this is creating a poverty trap where they are struggling to survive,'' he said.

''I know of one group of Tamils we've helped who were living on a packet of biscuits because they could not afford to go to the supermarket because of their rent and bills. ''And there was also a group of about six Tamils who were living in a two-bedroom flat in Dandenong before they were kicked out by the real estate agent when they found out so many people were living there. We found these guys a couple of weeks ago walking along Stud Road with all of their belongings and nowhere to go. This is what's happening to these people. They're not living it up with huge plasma TVs and other luxury items like we're led to believe.'' In Melbourne's west, for instance, three Tamil asylum seekers have spent the past week sleeping alongside one another on a cold wooden floor, with only their body heat and a single blanket to keep warm. One of them, who wanted to be identified only as ''Kumar'', said he did not own a jumper. The heater in the Sunshine house they have just moved into does not work. Their rent is just under $1400 a month and they are living off $390 a fortnight. Kumar said they had one dinner plate to share but were grateful to their landlord for lending them a rice cooker. He said they had met in a detention centre after arriving last year from Sri Lanka.

''We had issues down there,'' he explained. ''For me, my brother was in the [Tamil] Tigers so I faced a lot of issues from the Sri Lankan army and had to leave.'' An Immigration Department spokeswoman said the circumstances of asylum seekers living in the community were regularly reviewed and assessments made about their need for ongoing support such as living expenses, rent assistance and access to education for children. Loading There are currently 8795 asylum seekers being held in mainland and offshore detention facilities, including the occupants of four boats that arrived between April 23 and 25. For further information please contact tamilrefugeecouncil@gmail.com