When they came to Australia, they swapped persecution and violence for separation and anxiety.
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Members of Afghanistan’s hunted minority, the Hazaras, Mohammed Nazari, Aziz Kavimi, and Mohammad Hadi are now facing a potential future without their loved ones.
A year after Mohammed Nazari arrived in Wagga, he was told he would never see his younger sister again.
“She was killed during a bomb blast,” the 46-year-old said.
Delays in processing his citizenship application has Mr Nazari wondering whether a similar fate awaits his wife and four children.
Now aged roughly 13, 11, eight, and six, he has not had occasion to see them for more than a month at a time since leaving in 2012.
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“I am always worried about my family, that’s why I am in contact with them every single day. My children say to me, ‘come back, be with us and take us with you’,” said Mr Nazari.
“Once a year I travel to see them but it is only for a month. It is hard to bear this situation, I cannot sleep I cannot go to bed because I miss them.”
Similarly, Aziz Kavimi has had to leave his wife and four children – aged 15, 14, 12, and 10 in ‘Hazara Town’ on the outskirts of Quetta in Pakistan.
He arrived in Australia nine years ago, and it was three or four years ago that he successfully passed his citizenship test.
In most other cases, he would be sworn in as an Australian citizen within six months.
But his application remains pending. Without it, the 40-year-old cannot begin sponsoring his family to Wagga.
“When I came they were very young and they have grown up without me.”
Without a time frame to buoy his countenance, Mr Kavimi is a man who is rapidly losing his confidence.
“Two years ago was the last time I called [the Department of Home Affairs] to ask about my citizenship, and they said ‘just wait’, so I am waiting. I am just waiting.”
Seven years ago, Mohammed Hadi, now 29, left his parents, sister and brother to make the journey by boat to Australia.
“I was looking for safety. In Afghanistan, we cannot go to the bazaar without being punished, we cannot buy anything at the bazaar,” Mr Hadi said.
“We are Shia [muslim] and they will kill us. I miss [my family] I did not want to leave them. [But] they force us to leave, they took everything so that we couldn’t go anywhere and be safe.”
Wagga Multicultural Centre case worker Daniel Harris says because they arrived by boat, their applications have effectively been placed to the bottom of the pile.
“I’ve met similar people from similar parts of the world who have had to go through the same process. But they came by plane so while the process is still slow, it is not this slow,” said Mr Harris.
“Theoretically, they could be waiting indefinitely for their citizenship.”