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Asylum Seeker Narratives

(Status : Public)
Coordinated by AustLit UQ Team
  • This page lists library holdings of correspondence with asylum seekers, as well as first-person stories that appear in other forms, e.g., interviews and letters compiled elsewhere.

  • An Afghan's Tale

    ABC Radio National Interview from 17/04/2008. Program: Late Night Live with Phillip Adams

    Many stories have been written about Afghani refugees arriving in Australia but very few Afghans have told their own stories about where they came from, why they left and how they have made Australia their new home.

    Guests: Najaf Mazari - Former Afghan refugee, rug-maker and author. Robert Hillman - Biographer and fiction writer.

    (...more)
    See full AustLit entry
  • Coalition for Asylum Seekers Refugees and Detainees (CARAD) records, 1998-2009, held at the State Library of Western Australia

    2.56m of files. Permission of donor required. Call# MN 2826.

    An independent not-for-profit organisation providing support and advocacy for refugees living in Western

    Find library holdings here.

  • Correspondence of Asylum Seekers Collected by South West Action for Refugees, held at the National Library.

    Manuscript reference no.: MS 9768.

    One folder of letters to members of the South West Action for Refugees from asylum seekers in the processing centre established at Nauru.

    The South West Action for Refugees (SWAfR) is an Australian community organisation, mainly from Warrnambool in the South West of Victoria, who oppose current Federal Government policies and actions relating to refugees and asylum seekers.

    Find library holdings here.

  • From Nothing to Zero

    image of person or book cover
    This image has been sourced from online.

    'From Nothing to Zero presents edited extracts from letters written by asylum seekers held in Australia's detention centers. These letters provide a rare glimpse into the world of refugees who have fled war and persecution in their own countries. Several of the contributing detainees have been held for more than three years, often with no end to their incarceration in sight.'

    Source: Publisher's blurb.

    (...more)
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  • Letter from an Asylum Seeker to 16-year-old Danielle Hunt / www.kevinbates.com (archived)

    Letter from an Iranian asylum seeker, posted on the archived web page from 2006 of Marist priest Kevin Bates. At the time of this letter, the asylum seeker, named Saeed, is in Port Headland Detention Centre and says he has been in custody for 28 months.

    View here.

  • Letter from Nauru Detainee - Socialist Alternative Website (archived)

    'Letter from Juma Khan Nazari, detained on Nauru, dated 5 August 2002 Juma Khan asked that we edit the letter, because he is worried his English is not good enough, but we've only made small changes. In this letter I am writing a short story on 'Tampa refugee group' from Indonesia to Nauru:...'

    View here.

  • 'Vaunted Values too Slow to Save Neglected Son from Fatal Despair' [Newspaper Column] / Tom Keneally

    Tom Keneally's opinion column in the Sydney Morning Herald, 2nd Novemeber 2011: Letter to 'Shooty', a Sri Lankan who, the week before, took his own life in Villawood Detention Centre.

    View here.

  • Papers of Annabel Pengilley, held at the NLA

    MS Acc08/144 comprises correspondence received from refugees detained on Nauru Island, together with related papers, including notes, receipts, reports, newspaper cuttings and other research material (1 box).

    View library holdings here.

  • Papers of Elaine Smith (and Geoff Smith), held at the Fryer Research Library, UQ

    Archive items consists of: 21 boxes, 1 parcel, 6 artworks. Items date from 2002-2008.

    Summary: Correspondence and photographs from asylum seekers detained in Nauru; letters to asylum seekers, supporters, politicians and government agencies; newspaper cuttings, media commentary and reports; embroidery; publications and ephemera; artworks by asylum seekers.

    Note: Elaine Smith played a major role coordinating support for and communication with asylum seekers detained in Nauru by the Australian Government in the years following the 2001 Tampa incident. Beginning in 2002 she and her husband Geoff Smith corresponded with hundreds of detainees and lobbied Australian politicians, government agencies and community organisations on their behalf. She was a member of Rural Australians for Refugees.

    Find library holdings here.

  • Papers of Grace Gorman (Human Rights Activist), held at the NLA

    MS Acc09/66 comprises papers accumulated by Grace Gorman during the course of her work to help refugees. There are letters to and from refugees held in detention camps, mostly in Port Hedland, Western Australia, but also several on Nauru; correspondence with politicians; case notes; newspaper cuttings; ephemera; and, a small amount of correspondence with Refugee Action Collective (2 boxes).

    Biography: Grace Gorman is a private individual who has campaigned as an activist for refugees held in detention in Australia to raise public awareness of their plight.

    Notes: Manuscript reference no.: MS Acc09/66.

    Find library holdings here.

  • Papers of Julian Burnside and Kate Durham, 2002-2004, held in the Fryer Research Library at UQ

    Description: 4 boxes, 286 artworks.

    Summary:

    Correspondence from asylum seekers detained on Nauru; reports, newspaper cuttings and photographs relating to the asylum seekers; sewing created by the asylum seekers; paintings and relief sculptures created by Kate Durham.

    Note: Julian Burnside QC is a Melbourne barrister and author. In 2001 he helped bring legal action against the Australian Government over its decision to prevent asylum seekers rescued by the ship MV Tampa from having their claims for asylum heard in Australia. He subsequently became a leading public critic of the Government's refugee and anti-terrorism laws.

    Kate Durham is a Melbourne artist who founded Spare Rooms for Refugees, a program to provide community accommodation and other support to refugees. In late 2001 Durham and others began exchanging letters with asylum seekers detained on Nauru by the Australian Government. Durham and BBC journalist Sarah Macdonald travelled to Nauru clandestinely in June 2002, becoming the first independent eyewitnesses to visit the refugee detention centre and interview its occupants.

    Restricted - Access requires application to the Manager, Fryer Library. Reproduction of letters not permitted.

    Find library holdings here.

  • Records of Rural Australians for Refugees, held at the NLA

    Summary: The archive of the Rural Australians for Refugees represents the activities of local rural and regional groups around Australia as part of a campaign to change government policy on asylum seekers and in support of refugees whilst in detention and living in the community on temporary visas.

    The records of MS Acc08.200 were collected together by Southern Highlands RAR member, writer and historian Ann Beaumont.

    The records include administration and financial records; correspondence including letters from detention centre detainees; minutes of meetings; lobbying and publicity material; publications including RAR newsletters; 'Welcome book' material (ie. kits supplied to refugees on arrival in rural communities); papers relating to the sinking of the SIEV-X, detention centres, deportations, fundraising and a 'Freedom quilt' project; submissions; photographs; papers and audiovisual material relating to Human Rights Day and World Refugee Day and Week; papers relating to barrister Julian Gormley's representation of Mahammad Kazim Kazimi in the Federal Court, 2004; research material; guides and education kits; and video and audio material on refugee themes (57 boxes, 1 elephant folio).

    The Acc10.037 instalment comprises a large bound volume titled 'Australia shamed: a list of dissenters' (2002) containing a 'Statement of dissent' by Richard Flanagan and a list of signatures of petition against government policy towards refugees (1 fol. box).

    Find library holdings here.

  • Refugees & Asylum Seekers: Ephemera Material Collected by the State Library of Queensland

    This collection includes flyers and brochures giving information on World Refugee Day (2004); the Romero Community Centre; a Fact Sheet from the Romero Centre on Iranian Refugees and an anti-government newsletter criticising the handling of refugees and asylum seekers in Australia.

    Find library holdings here.

  • SIEVX Survivor Accounts Transcript - October 2001

    This is a transcript of a videotape that was made of the survivors of the SIEVX disaster at Bogor in the week following the shipwreck. It was translated by Keysar Trad of the Lebanese Muslim Association, Sydney. This document was provided to this site by Tony Kevin who presented it to the CMI Inquiry as an attachment to his first submission. Except for a small section removed from the end, this is an exact copy of the document. Names in square brackets have been added by sievx.com as people have been identified.

    View here.

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