"Refugees Urge Australian Government to End 13-Year Policy Stalemate"

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A group of refugees who say they’ve been living in limbo in Australia for 13 years have taken their fight for permanent residency to federal parliament in Canberra.

The delegation of four refugees from Sri Lanka and Iran are representing more than 8,000 people in Australia who’ve had visa claims rejected under a now-defunct system.

A man sitting in a wheelchair is accompanied by his mother, inside parliament house

Narges Shaterian and her son Nooshad, as well as their other family members came to Australia in 2013 but say they have been trapped in a limbo by the now-defunct fast track asylum scheme. Source: SBS News / Tys Occhiuzzi

Narges Shaterian came to Australia with her husband and three children in 2013.

“Please end this limbo, this nightmare, because more than a decade (ago) we came here and we lost lots of relatives in our country,” she said.

Tamil refugee Rathy Barthlote is a mother of two daughters — one of them a citizen, having been born in Australia.

But Barthlote isn’t afforded the same privilege.

“In our country, we are in prison. But here, we are in the open prison,” she said.

Both women had their asylum cases rejected under what was known as the Fast Track system, introduced by the Coalition in 2014.

A woman in a black jumper and white shirt standing in a corridor of parliament house

Rathy Barthlote has been fighting for over a decade for permanent protection and dignity for people trapped in visa limbo. Source: SBS News / Tys Occhiuzzi

It argued the policy would clear the backlog of asylum claims, but critics such as Professor Daniel Ghezelbash from the University of New South Wales say the process was heavily restricting.

“The result was a deeply flawed process, where people weren’t effectively able to put forward their asylum claims, and many people who were in fact refugees were not found to be owed protection,” he said.

“I think this will go down as one of the biggest asylum policy failures that the Australian government has made.”

In 2024, the Labor government effectively abolished the system, which UNSW figures show did lead to an increase in cases being approved.

But for those already under the scheme like Rathy Barthlote, little changed.

“When Labor won the election, we were celebrating because we thought something was going to happen to our lives. But nothing happened, still we are in limbo, we are in uncertainty.”

The government has committed to resolving the status of those subjected to the Fast Track system – many of them now remaining on short-term temporary visas.

With a commanding majority in the 48th parliament, advocates like Jana Favero from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre say now is the time for Labor to act decisively on visa processing.

“We heard in Albanese’s election speech talking about ambition, talking about opportunity, talking about Australian values and fairness, and those are exactly the same things that refugees who have been abandoned by the Australian government for 13 years are looking for.”

Barthlote is keen to highlight her contribution to her new home.

“I’m working. I’m an aged care worker, I’m doing my own business. I’m a hairdresser too. So I’m contributing to this community as much as everyone. Every single day I’m giving back to this community. But I haven’t got anything back from this government. The system is failing us. The system is punishing us.”

The Coalition, which introduced the scheme, says it’s now in the process of reviewing its immigration policy.