Morrison Government must let three-year-old refugee child reunite with her father
The Human Rights Law Centre has today called on the Morrison Government to bring an end to the detention of a father who is cruelly separated from his wife and child. Overnight, The Project reported on the story of Mehreen, Zijah and three year old Eshal.
After becoming pregnant in offshore detention in Nauru, Mehreen was deliberately separated from her husband Zijah when she was brought to Australia. She gave birth to their daughter Eshal alone while Zijah remained stranded in Nauru. Two years ago, Zijah was finally brought to Australia under the now-repealed medical evacuation laws, which also required families to be reunited. Zijah was brought to Adelaide, where Mehreen and Eshal live. But instead of being reunited with his family, Zijah had been locked in an immigration detention centre there ever since.
In the middle of the night on Tuesday, the Morrison Government transferred Zijah from Adelaide to be detained in the Park Hotel in Melbourne, leaving Mehreen and Eshal behind.
There is no reason for Zijah’s detention. More than 1000 people transferred from offshore detention have already been released into the community. The new Minister for Home Affairs, Karen Andrews, has the power to immediately release Zijah and reunite this family.
David Burke, Legal Director of the Human Rights Law Centre, called for the family to be urgently reunited.
“Eshal turned three last week and has never met her father except for rare visits to a detention centre. There is no reason for Zijah to be locked inside a hotel, hundreds of kilometres from his daughter. All Zijah wants is to be with his wife and child. He has already missed his daughter’s birth, her first smile, her first steps. He has never been given a reason why his family cannot be together. The Morrison Government can allow this family to reunite today. It must do the right thing and let them live together.”
Mehreen, Zijah and Eshal were torn apart as part of the Australian Government’s systematic and coercive campaign to separate refugee families as a form of punishment and deterrence, as exposed in the Human Rights Law Centre’s report Together in Safety, released last week.
“All families belong together in safety. But the Australian Government is deliberately keeping refugee families apart for years on end, and forcing people to make unthinkable choices between their safety, their health and being with the ones they love. Families thrive when they are together - the Australian Government can and must end this cruelty and allow these families to be reunited.
“For Zijah, Mehreen and Eshal, the new Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews could give them back their lives today by allowing them to be together as a family.”
Media contact:
Michelle Bennett, Engagement Director, 0419 100 519, michelle.bennett@hrlc.org.au