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SEEKING ASYLUM: OUR STORIES

The voices Australia should hear

Seeking Asylum: Our Stories captures the stories of those who have lived the experience of seeking asylum. Published in partnership with Black Inc., this beautifully illustrated hardback shares stories of the resilience, courage, love and hope of people seeking asylum—in their own words.

Contributors share how they came to be in Australia, and explore diverse aspects of their lives: growing up in a refugee camp, studying for a PhD, changing attitudes through soccer, being Muslim in a small country town, campaigning against racism, surviving detention, holding onto culture, and dreaming of being reunited with family.

Accompanied by beautiful portrait photographs, these stories of seeking asylum show the depth and diversity of people’s experience and trace the impact of Australia’s immigration policies.

100% of the proceeds from Seeking Asylum: Our Stories will be reinvested by the ASRC to fund projects like the ASRC’s Community Advocacy and Power Program (CAPP), which provides people with lived experience of seeking asylum with training to become storytellers, advocates and most importantly, leaders in the community.

Available now
Publisher: Black Inc

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Through telling our stories, we have the opportunity to own the narrative about refugees and asylum seekers. We are not a headline, a statistic or a slogan, but human beings

Liliana Maria Sanchez Cornejo, storyteller, cultural educator, anthropologist and activist.

MEET SOME OF THE CONTRIBUTORS

GHOFRAN

Gained her PhD as a mature-age student and now lectures in biomedicine

GORDON

A musician spreading peace,
love and unity

BETELHEM

A human rights activist and survivor of offshore processing on Nauru

“I was on the boat for six days. I was the only Ethiopian, so I couldn’t communicate with anyone. It was very scary and I was young – I turned twenty-one on the boat. We ran out of food and, on the fifth day, petrol. I didn’t think we would survive. There was a big storm and the boat started to leak. On the sixth day, Australian border force found us and took us to Darwin. After five days, guards came in the middle of the night and asked, ‘Do you want to go to Nauru?’ I didn’t know what they meant. They told me there were education facilities there, good medical treatment and fair processes. I trusted them so I agreed to go. Ten of us, all women, were taken to Nauru. When we arrived, we saw tents and lots of children and families crying. I was confused. Because I was the only Ethiopian, I couldn’t understand what anyone was saying. For ten months we didn’t have phones, television or radio, so there was no way to find out where
I was. We were the first people transferred to Nauru and the detention centre was still being built. When we did get a phone, we were only allowed to use it once a month for fifteen minutes. If your family didn’t answer, that was your chance gone.”

Our immense gratitude goes to our contributors for generously sharing their stories. Additionally to Black Inc. Publishers who have supported the ASRC’s work for many years. They have kindly donated the cost of all publishing services completely gratis, with all proceeds from the sale of the book helping to fund the ASRC’s investment in capacity building projects owned and run by people with lived experience.