A sporting chance
East Timorese in Australia
A staggering number of religious and human rights groups as well as local government people joined forces several years ago to try and convince the Federal Government to grant permanent residency to Australia’s 1650 East Timorese asylum seekers. Most of those seeking a change in status fled to Australia after the Dili Massacre in 1991. Their state of ‘limbo’, which has been a roller coaster of emotions, came to a head in 2002 when they discovered the Government’s reluctance to grant them a permanent visa. They have been drip-fed information over the years telling them that their category was unusual and it would be considered down the track. But as deportation notices began arriving, agitation and fear in the East Timorese community grew and led to a massive public campaign.
By the end of 2003 the Federal Government had granted permanent residency to about 800 of the 1650 East Timorese people, living in Melbourne, Sydney and Darwin. The new Immigration Minister, Senator Amanda Vanstone, has used her ministerial discretion to grant more people permanent residency. No such certainty as yet for several hundred others.
Most of the activists who have been agitating, writing letters and pleading with the former Immigration Minister Mr Ruddock for almost a decade, believe the December decision is due largely to the intensity of the community campaign, known as Common Sense For East Timorese—Let Them Stay. The campaign, which had been running informally for several years, was drawn together by Melbourne’s City of Yarra in 2002 because of the threat of deportation facing so many of its community members.
Several ‘agitators’ flew to New York recently to receive the United Nations’ 2003 Golden World Award in recognition of the success of the campaign. The gala dinner was attended by several people (at their own expense) from the Yarra City Council, which took up the baton for the East Timorese people and has not stopped arguing for the rights of the several hundred still awaiting determination. Also at the award dinner in New York was the ‘front man’ for the East Timorese community and the Let Them Stay advocacy campaign, Fivo Freitas. Fivo, 29, came to Australia in 1999 and was one of the 800 people granted permanent residency in December. He has become a strong voice for his community over the years, speaking to anyone who will listen.
The campaign was one of six