Speaker 1: Hey, Hereni, how are you. I'm good, How are you good?
Speaker 1: Thank you? Thank you so much for coming on the show.
Speaker 1: I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2: No worries at all. Thank you for this opportunity.
Speaker 1: Hareni Rafnakuma is twenty three years old. She grew up
Speaker 1: in Sunshine in Melbourne.
Speaker 2: I was born in Sri Lanka as a Tamil Elam
Speaker 2: person and I had to flee the genocide that took
Speaker 2: place in Damil Elam and I went to India as
Speaker 2: a refugee.
Speaker 1: In India, Hareni lived in a refugee camp. She describes
Speaker 1: an early childhood marked by fear, where going to school
Speaker 1: was difficult. The fees were exceptionally high and her family
Speaker 1: struggled to pay. Hareni remembers this one day when she
Speaker 1: was ten years old. She was hanging around the adults
Speaker 1: evesdropping on the conversations and she heard them talking about
Speaker 1: a place called Australia.
Speaker 2: My dad was talking to a neighbor about how it
Speaker 2: was a better place to live in how they were
Speaker 2: well becoming refugees, and that our family would be better
Speaker 2: off there instead of in India. We cannot go back
Speaker 2: to Sri Lanka, and I do believe he mentioned something
Speaker 2: about free education to the neighbor and that's when I
Speaker 2: got hooked on. I was like, I wouldn't be a
Speaker 2: burden to my family at all because my dad couldn't
Speaker 2: afford to be the feast that got into my head
Speaker 2: and I was very stubborn. When my dad was going
Speaker 2: to leave, I was like, I am coming with you
Speaker 2: or I'm going to die. That's what I told him
Speaker 2: to a kid hearing how Australia was a better place
Speaker 2: and they would treat us better, our human rights would
Speaker 2: be upheld to a kid, that sounds like a wonderful dream.
Speaker 1: And that dream was realized. Hareni made it to Australia
Speaker 1: and went to school. But what she could never have
Speaker 1: expected is it a largely unknown feature of our immigration
Speaker 1: system would stop her from getting the full education she
Speaker 1: risked her life for. From Schwartz Media, I'm Ruby Jones.
Speaker 1: This is seven AM today on the show Hareni Rathnakuma
Speaker 1: on the promise of life in Australia and why the
Speaker 1: children of refugees aren't able to attend university. Here. It's Monday,
Speaker 1: April twenty one. This episode was originally published in September
Speaker 1: last year. HARENI, can you tell me about your journey
Speaker 1: to come to Australia with your dad? It was scary.
Speaker 3: It was very, very scary.
Speaker 2: It was almost seventeen to eighteen days a worth of
Speaker 2: journey on the sea. It was short of one hundred
Speaker 2: people on that boat. There was a bit at the
Speaker 2: bottom where they would store fishes, I believe because there
Speaker 2: was eyes too, and that's where most of the people
Speaker 2: kind of head away when we had to cross the
Speaker 2: border and we all shared this space and everyone was
Speaker 2: just throwing up. Most people couldn't even like sit up.
Speaker 2: It was covered in warmt But because my dad was there,
Speaker 2: I knew i'd be okay. I knew he'd be taking
Speaker 2: care of me, and that's what he did.
Speaker 1: And do you remember any of the other people on
Speaker 1: the boat, did you talk to them?
Speaker 2: I made so many friends because there were so many
Speaker 2: young kids like me. There was a guy that I
Speaker 2: became best friends with. He and I love to study.
Speaker 2: That's what we connected over. And what was funny was
Speaker 2: that after so many years of being separated, we ended
Speaker 2: up going to the same uni. We reached Coco's Island
Speaker 2: and the Navy. They came and took us to safety,
Speaker 2: and I was so joyed. I was very, very joyed.
Speaker 2: I was like, finally we made it. I was transferred
Speaker 2: to Adelaide detention Center. That was after spending a couple
Speaker 2: of months in Christmas Island, and then they transferred me out.
Speaker 2: They were like, you're allowed to go live in the
Speaker 2: community now, and my dad chose Melbourn.
Speaker 1: HARENI and her dad were put on a bridging visa,
Speaker 1: which is what it sounds like. It's a temporary visa
Speaker 1: where the government can decide at any point what it wants.
Speaker 3: To do with you.
Speaker 1: You stay on it until you're assessed one way or
Speaker 1: the other, and you can be deported at any time.
Speaker 1: Many Tamil asylum seekers are stuck in this kind of limbo.
Speaker 1: They face some of the lowest acceptance rates as refugees,
Speaker 1: like the Billa Wheeler family, who were only granted permanent
Speaker 1: visas after a huge campaign to let them stay. Parini
Speaker 1: and her dad have been on this type of visa
Speaker 1: since they arrived in twenty thirteen.
Speaker 2: I was eleven when I came to Melvin. I came
Speaker 2: at nighttime, my second or the third time I've been
Speaker 2: on a fly and the city looked so beautiful, and
Speaker 2: I was just so happy to be here. I was
Speaker 2: put into a primary school right away instead of a
Speaker 2: language school. I was very proud to be standing there
Speaker 2: because people had knew about the Tamil genocide that took place,
Speaker 2: and I was glad know the other people knew. The
Speaker 2: other people were actually cared. I enjoyed going to school
Speaker 2: primary school here. I made so many friends, and again
Speaker 2: my dad didn't have to pay, so I was thrilled.
Speaker 2: I was like, oh my god, free education. And I
Speaker 2: also went to high school here where I finished year
Speaker 2: twelve in twenty twenty, the year of COVID.
Speaker 1: And then you applied for university. Can you tell me
Speaker 1: about that.
Speaker 2: I had applied to Vicuni to study a Bachelor of
Speaker 2: Biomedical Science to then go on to become a doctor.
Speaker 2: My brother has always suffered with this condition affecting his kidneys,
Speaker 2: and he was always on medication. He was always getting
Speaker 2: some kind of surgery done, and I thought if I
Speaker 2: became a doctor, then I would be able to provide
Speaker 2: that kid to a little bit more people. So I
Speaker 2: got my offer letter saying that I was accepted in
Speaker 2: that degree. I was thrilled. I was thrilled to get
Speaker 2: that offer. I gave my dad a call. I gave
Speaker 2: him so much joy by letting him know that I
Speaker 2: was offered a place in UNI.
Speaker 1: Coming up after the break, Hareni learns what her education
Speaker 1: will cost.
Speaker 3: Her welcome back.
Speaker 1: When Hareni started applying for universities, she was made to
Speaker 1: do so as an international student. She thought it was
Speaker 1: strange given she'd been here since she was a child,
Speaker 1: but didn't think too much about it. Hareni still remembers
Speaker 1: the moment she opened that letter from Victoria University telling
Speaker 1: her that she's been accepted into biomedical science, her first
Speaker 1: step towards becoming a doctor.
Speaker 2: So it said that I was offered a place as
Speaker 2: an international student because I've applied as an international student,
Speaker 2: because that's the only way I can apply. The second
Speaker 2: page had the fear infom the total amount that was
Speaker 2: expected for us to pay. It said ninety five thousand,
Speaker 2: and I'm like I was just sitting there looking at
Speaker 2: it for a couple of minutes because I didn't believe
Speaker 2: my eyes. First, I was like, ninety five thousand for what?
Speaker 2: And then I sat down verted over and over again.
Speaker 2: I was shocked, and I didn't want to break it
Speaker 2: to my dad that I would have to pay these feests.
Speaker 2: And then I gave my dad a call. I told
Speaker 2: him that I wouldn't be able to access X. I
Speaker 2: was heartbroken over why this was, and when I asked
Speaker 2: my dad why I was being treated differently when I
Speaker 2: tried to apply for UNI, he said, well, our case
Speaker 2: has been rejected and they haven't found us to be
Speaker 2: junior refugees. They don't actually want us here, and.
Speaker 1: That broke my heart.
Speaker 2: I was like, all this hope that I've saved up,
Speaker 2: all this dreams that I've built over so many years
Speaker 2: after coming to this country broke.
Speaker 1: So it sounds like at some point during the application process,
Speaker 1: you had realized that you would need to apply as
Speaker 1: an international student, but it wasn't until you got that
Speaker 1: letter that you realized what that meant and how much
Speaker 1: money that would cost. Is that right? Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2: Yes. But my dad was like, I'll do whatever to
Speaker 2: make your study, I'll do whatever to make you unlocked
Speaker 2: her and I felt like I was placing that burden
Speaker 2: on him yet again. What was a happy moment was
Speaker 2: kind of broken after hearing about the fees.
Speaker 1: Parini's dad scrambled to find the money working an extra
Speaker 1: job so that she could start studying. She completed two
Speaker 1: and a half years of her degree with support from
Speaker 1: her dad and also from her husband, who she married
Speaker 1: while she was at UNI.
Speaker 2: I had done two and a half eas of my
Speaker 2: bachelor degree, which in which I had four months left
Speaker 2: to graduate. My dad had an injury at work and
Speaker 2: my husband ended up losing his job around the same time,
Speaker 2: and we couldn't do anything to pay for the UNI
Speaker 2: as well. They had decided to just enroll me because
Speaker 2: I couldn't pay. So I already owe the UNI like
Speaker 2: twenty four or twenty five K, and I would need
Speaker 2: another twenty four or twenty five k to finish off
Speaker 2: my bachelor degree. But in saying so, I also want
Speaker 2: to do a Bachelor of Medicine, which makes me a doctor.
Speaker 2: And to do medicine it's like seventy seven thousand a year.
Speaker 2: I'm not even able to pay ninety five thousand for
Speaker 2: three years. How am I going to pay seventy seven
Speaker 2: thousand for a year to become a doctor. I wasn't
Speaker 2: able to brive with vanes and a banks because of
Speaker 2: my visa status and it drove me to depression. I
Speaker 2: had to face the harsh reality in the truth that
Speaker 2: the country didn't want me here, that I don't actually
Speaker 2: belong anywhere at all, the country I was born and
Speaker 2: doesn't want me, wants to get rid of me, kill me,
Speaker 2: and I didn't even know what to do. I sought
Speaker 2: out so many organizations, so many refugee supporters to see
Speaker 2: if they could help me at all. My husband did
Speaker 2: write to so many MP's as well, and all they
Speaker 2: said was that they could probably get us mental help,
Speaker 2: but they cannot do anything about my situation or about
Speaker 2: my education either. It was hard because well, the politician
Speaker 2: that needs to care for us, they don't even consider
Speaker 2: us human beings.
Speaker 1: There are more than ten thousand people on bridging visas
Speaker 1: in Australia, and with Year twelve exams and university offers approaching,
Speaker 1: the young people who were brought to Australia by parents
Speaker 1: seeking asylum will be faced with this same problem. Pay
Speaker 1: the extremely high international fees or forgo the chance to
Speaker 1: get a tertiary education and the opportunities that brings.
Speaker 2: What am I supposed to do with my life in
Speaker 2: those years? I cannot study. So I'm going to have
Speaker 2: to work. I am working, I am paying tax. This
Speaker 2: is what we've been doing for twelve years. We've been
Speaker 2: paying tax, waiting for this opportunity to get to go
Speaker 2: Australia or home and to finally be at peace, to
Speaker 2: have that breadth of siyeh and know that we finally
Speaker 2: belong in this country. Yep, we haven't been given that opportunity.
Speaker 1: And so ha RENI, what would need to change for
Speaker 1: you to be able to study at university here like
Speaker 1: any other student.
Speaker 2: The only solution at the moment that we have is
Speaker 2: that we need our permanent viasas and if we do
Speaker 2: have our permanent visas, then we'll be able to apply
Speaker 2: as a domestic student, which we are after ten years
Speaker 2: in this country. We are domestic. This is our home
Speaker 2: home and we should be able to have access to
Speaker 2: education without worrying about all the fees that that's going
Speaker 2: to literally break our families. About the boy I told
Speaker 2: you about the boy that went to the same UNI
Speaker 2: as me. He came on the same boat as me,
Speaker 2: He played with me on the boat. He had to
Speaker 2: flee the same situation we had to flee, the same
Speaker 2: genocide he's got a visa though, so he did end
Speaker 2: up end up getting a permanent visa. I came with
Speaker 2: him and they have treated me so unfairly and said
Speaker 2: that I'm not a genuine refugee, that I don't belong here.
Speaker 2: After building a home and a life here, A lot
Speaker 2: of people have lost their lives waiting in a slimbo,
Speaker 2: including one of my friends who was also trying to study.
Speaker 2: Yet because we can't, he had to go and work.
Speaker 2: He paid tax. Yeah, after waiting in this slimbo, he's
Speaker 2: taken his life.
Speaker 1: I'm so sorry to hear that. ARENI Like, what is.
Speaker 2: This government going to do with us? Like we've been here,
Speaker 2: We've been begging, we've been campaigning for our rights. Yet
Speaker 2: the government hasn't even looked at us. They haven't given
Speaker 2: us a reply.
Speaker 1: And RENI, we know that there have been cases where
Speaker 1: the government has intervened on behalf of people who have
Speaker 1: been living on ridging visas. I'm thinking of Nadees and
Speaker 1: Pria Rigappa and the Bila Willa family. Can you tell
Speaker 1: me your thoughts on that.
Speaker 2: I am glad for those families that did end up
Speaker 2: receiving permanent visas, such as the Billowilla and the bell
Speaker 2: are At family. Priya actually traveled on the same boat
Speaker 2: with me, and they faced so many struggles. They were
Speaker 2: almost deported from this country and they were finally able
Speaker 2: to give their visas after so much fight. I'm happy
Speaker 2: for them. I'm happy that they get to call this
Speaker 2: country home. I'm happy they're finally safe and say keep
Speaker 2: in this country. But in doing so, the government it
Speaker 2: has when we looked at one family or a couple
Speaker 2: of families, even though I'm happy for them, why aren't
Speaker 2: we given the scene opportunity, Why are we still being
Speaker 2: left behind?
Speaker 1: Well, Hereni, thank you so much for talking to me
Speaker 1: about all of this today. I really appreciate you speaking
Speaker 1: with me, no worries.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: To find out more about Hareni and other students going
Speaker 1: through this, you can read Denhim Sadler's story in the
Speaker 1: Saturday Paper. It's called All My Dreams Shattered asylum Seekers
Speaker 1: Barred from Australian Universities. It's available now. We spoke to
Speaker 1: Hareni just recently. She told us that she's still stuck
Speaker 1: in limbo. Her case has not progressed. Hareni said she's
Speaker 1: still hoping for a permanent visa and is hopeful that
Speaker 1: if labor wins, they may reconsider their position on people occur,
Speaker 1: but so far, no one from the government has indicated
Speaker 1: they'll help her.