Refugee story: Hayatullah Rahimi
Imagine growing up knowing that your race is hated by other tribes living in your country and you are under such constant fear for your life, you can’t even visit a neighbouring city.
This was the kind of childhood Hayatullah experiencing living in Ghazni, which is located in the central eastern part of Afghanistan.
Hayatullah is a Hazara and the tribe has experienced intense persecution since the beginning of the 16th century.
The Shia Hazara people have suffered systematic discrimination, ethnic cleansing and genocide and are primarily from the central highland region of Hazarajat in Afghanistan.
“I was just a little boy when I had my first experience of the Taliban and that persecution.
“I knew my father had experienced it but I hadn’t until this point.
“My father asked me to go and ask from the Taliban commander to give us a letter to go to Pakistan for treatment because he was sick.
“The commander slapped me on the face, and said you are a Hazara, you will be killed.”
Hayatullah’s family lived in a mountainous region where they could be self-sufficient living off the land growing their own food and most families kept animals.
The Hazara people couldn’t visit other cities in Afghanistan for fear of being killed.
“The tribe was very badly persecuted, we are different to other people in Afghanistan in terms of language.
“We speak Hazaragi which is similar to Dari/Persian, and they speak Pashtu, but religiously we are different in their view, we see everyone as the same.”
Hayatullah was about 18 when the Taliban really started to impact on his day-to-day life and his school was burnt down.
The family then made the tough decision to try and escape the persecution and move to Pakistan.
But it wasn’t as easy as just crossing the border into Pakistan and setting up a new life.
“My father had been across to Pakistan with my elder brother had for treatment and then they decided to come back and bring the rest of the family.
“It was very dangerous when we went across the border.
“We had to disguise ourselves to be able to cross the border without drawing attention to ourselves.
“We had to grow long beards and wear hats and pretend we were Pashtun people and learn some of the language.
“We had to be able to answer the guards at the checkpoints and say where we were going.
“The guards knew we were Hazara and we even had to pay them to get across the border.”
The family moved to Quetta, which is the ninth biggest city in Pakistan, where lots of other Hazara people had fled to.
Now living as refugees in Pakistan with his parents and experienced a new list of challenges.
“In Pakistan we suffered a lot, we had to learn a new language and there were financial difficulties because we had to leave everything behind.
“We had four years of struggling but then things started to get better.
“We started to have a good life there but then in recent years the persecution against us started again against the Hazaras.
“We were not allowed to go to the cities because there was the strong chance we would be killed.
“There was lots of bomb blasts happening and that was very scary, life now in Australia is just not comparable.
“I had been in Pakistan for eight years before it became apparent I would have to move again.”
Hayatullah is now married to his wife whose father had moved to Australia in 1999.
He was given the opportunity to be sponsored by his wife so he could leave the persecution in Pakistan.
“I arrived in Australia in 2007 and I was on a temporary visa for two years. It was very uncertain.
“I didn’t have access to any benefits and I had to pay for education courses in cash, I had no access to HECS‑HELP if I was going to do a diploma.
“I found work in a factory and worked as many hours as possible so I could resettle, I didn’t know what would happen while on the temporary visa.
“I was struggling with finances and language and had to wake up very early and work till late six days per week. It was a hard time.
“I was not happy to be there. I wanted to work in a different environment, my dream was to develop my English language and do some community work.
“I wanted to do a diploma and I am now at university doing social work and now a case manager in a migrant resource centre."
Hayatullah got his Permanent Residency in 2010 and he says that getting an education has changed his life.
“I couldn’t believe I thought that the factory job I was in was forever.
“I never thought it could change. I believed I was just a simple factory worker.
“I decided that I had to get an education and it is unbelievable. I could never imagine that I would be where I am today.
“There was a lot of people in my community that say ‘look at where you are now’.
“My own personal experiences have helped, I don’t want other people to experience the same things.”
“I really never thought about Australia, I was born in that environment and was used to it.
“If we didn’t come to Australia and we would have been persecuted.
“When people are seeking asylum they are looking for protection, it takes time for people to be integrated.
“Compared to Afghanistan I now have a good life and opportunity. I am protected and I have access to everything I need.
“I am advocating for people like me to have better access.”
Hayatullah’s experience of being a refugee and facing difficult challenges inspired him to become a social worker in Australia.
“I appreciate that I am able to contribute to Australia’s economy and give back to the country, which has given me so much.”
“As a social worker I feel I have a responsibility to speak up about the rights of others who are seeking protection.”
He has been an advocate on behalf of asylum seekers and refugees in the media and in government and non-government forums for education and work rights.
He also has been featured as a guest speaker by Centre for Multicultural Youth, CMY.
“The best thing I have experienced in Australia is the tolerance that people have to each other, it is not comparable.”
Haytatullah says he was honoured and privileged to be appointed as Refugee Week Ambassador by Refugee Council of Australia which gives him a bigger voice to advocate for people who is facing the same circumstances that he has gone through.
What is the aim of Refugee Week
To educate the Australian public about who refugees are and why they have come to Australia
•To help people understand the many challenges refugees face coming to Australia
•To celebrate the contribution refugees make to our community
•To focus on how the community can provide a safe and welcoming environment for refugees
•For community groups and individuals to do something positive for refugees, asylum seekers and displaced people, within Australia but also around the world, and
•For service providers to reflect on whether they are providing the best possible services to refugees.
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