Narges Alizadeh

Narges is a Hazara-Afghan refugee who arrived with her mother, Nasreen, and siblings in Australia in 2013 after travelling through Pakistan and Indonesia and was sent to the offshore processing centre in Nauru.

In August 2014, Nasreen, who was beaten and injured by the Taliban in Afghanistan, was transferred to Darwin for urgent medical care. However, only one of her three children was allowed to join her two weeks later. As a result, the family was effectively separated for over four years. In 2016, Nasreen and her younger daughter, Mahboubeh, were transferred from Darwin detention to Sydney. Narges and her brother Daryoush remained on Nauru until October 2018, when they were transferred to Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney for medical reasons. Narges, her mother and siblings, now live in community detention in Sydney behind Villawood Immigration Detention Centre. However, they continue to experience family separation as her father is not permitted to live with them.

Over 100 people have signed an open letter and petition to the Australian government asking for Narges family to be granted an exemption and that those on temporary visas be granted permanent protection and the guarantee that they won't be forced to return to Afghanistan.

The petition was started by human rights journalist, founder and editor of Writing in Resistance, Saba Vasefi.

Photo credit to Louie Douvis