What's Life Like in Australia For a Refugee? "Everything Was Like a Dream."

“I had no idea I would one day go to Australia. It just happened and everything was like a dream.”

Javid Jafari, 24, was born in Iran, but today he calls Australia home.

He arrived in South Australia as a refugee with the assistance of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) in late 2013, coming at a time in which Australia’s federal election saw both major parties trumpeting “stop the boats” policies.

But Javid can only express gratitude to his adopted nation, which he describes as having “a perfect humanity” and “cultural understanding and acceptance.”

It is a far cry from his experience in Iran, where he was denied citizenship because of his Afghan heritage.

“In that country, we faced a lot of discrimination and racism and oppression because of the fact we didn’t belong to that country,” he told Student Edge.

It was only when he landed in Australia that he felt truly welcomed.

“I believe that I belong to Australia and Australia is like my real country, and I feel really happy about this,” he said.

He’s put his time here to valuable use, volunteering for Rotaract, Rotary, Cancer Council, Migrants Resource Centre and Afghan Youth of South Australia.

Having finished his studies, he’s now looking for a pathway to dentistry.

“In my childhood, I’d never go to a dentist because I had dentistry in my blood, and whenever one of my teeth had an ache or something, I would take it out myself and I didn’t need to go to the dentist,” he said.

“Looking at my teeth at the moment, there is no disorder or nothing. I have perfect teeth and I think I will be great in dentistry. Why not?” he laughed.

In the meantime, Javid is a Youth Ambassador for ChilOut, representing children in Australia’s offshore immigration detention centres, many of whom are now waiting on a decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to see if they will be resettled in America.

Though the residents of Nauru and Manus Island have little opportunity to communicate beyond the borders of their detention centres, Javid is more than happy to relay his story, and shared experiences.

“What I think people need to know is refuges are like everyone; they want to have a better life,” he said.

“They want to have a second chance. And they are not harmful to anybody.”

Australia accepted 11,776 refugees in 2015, which, as the Refugee Council of Australia points out, amounts to 0.48 per cent of the 2.45 million displaced people who had their status recognised or were resettled in that year. Internationally, we rank 25th in the world for refugee intake.

As the refugee debate rages on locally, Javid continues to count his blessings.

“There are many cultures living in Australia, living in peace and harmony, and that’s one of the things that’s really important about this country that makes Australia unique,” he said.

“There are so many cultures. And everyone has their own rights. Everyone will respect you no matter what is your religion or what is your culture. Everyone just grew in this way, and made it perfect.

“In a country such as Australia, I can achieve whatever if I put in effort and go for it. There is no boundary here.”

Correction: The original story stated that Javid had been resettled by UNICEF. Student Edge regrets the error.

Photo: Supplied by Chilout