Tweed Citizen of the Year Joan Henderson on Refugees

ACROSS THE country, at kitchen tables and computer desks in rural communities all around Australia, something quite amazing is happening.

From Warwick to Yackandandah, Tasmania to our own Tweed Valley, rural people are working desperately to help people in Afghanistan who are at the most grave risk.

These Australians keep in touch online whenever possible, trying to keep people’s spirits up and their hopes alive. They are forging strong friendships with some of the most persecuted people in the world.

They help with complex visa applications and fundraise tirelessly to enable people facing starvation to feed their families.

It all began at the fall of Kabul in August 2021 when Rural Australians for Refugees received an urgent plea to sponsor individuals at highest risk for humanitarian visas to Australia.

Twenty-two rural groups, including Uki and Ballina, answered the call and applied to sponsor over 100 individuals and families. At that terrifying time, it was hoped that people could be immediately airlifted out of the country.

However, the allied forces suddenly ceased evacuations.

More than six months prior, veterans had been urging governments around the world to act early and begin evacuating people, but instead we witnessed the horror of people desperately clinging to the undercarriages of planes and falling from the sky.

The people who have applied for sponsored visas include doctors, lawyers, judges, educators, interpreters, women’s rights activists, police, special forces officers, UN and NGO workers.

They protected Australian workers and kept them safe.

They courageously stood up for human rights,

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GREAT PRICES democracy and freedom, as we encouraged them to do. And now they are left completely abandoned and exposed.

The danger to them is intensified as the Taliban possess a handheld scanning system called HIIDE with which they can pull people over anywhere, scan their irises and fingerprints, and identify precisely who they are. There is nowhere to hide.

For many it has now been over 18 months since applications to Australia were lodged and they continue to be actively hunted down. They have received file numbers and acknowledgements from Australia that their applications are valid. Yet still they wait.

You can help in this important work by contacting our government to let them know that after 20 years of involvement in Afghanistan, Australia needs to urgently prioritise the processing of visas for Afghan people.

Australia owes these courageous people our loyalty and protection.

For further information please visit: ruralaustraliansforrefugees.org.au or ukirefugeeproject. org