To be respected as a human

An Indonesian policeman (left) assists an Afghan asylum seeker to a police station in Malang town, East Java on April 21.

AMAN ROCHMAN

 

The following is part two of our feature about Myanmar refugees Mohammad Karim and Abu Tahir, who have found freedom in Rockhampton.

AT AN age most children begin primary school, seven-year-old Mohammad Karim escaped Burma for Thailand after his family's home burnt down.

He confirmed in court the Burmese government did not consider him one of their own and denied him a passport.

He watched hundreds of his fellow stateless Rohingya people flee their country and families.

After sneaking into Malaysia at the age of 12, Mr Karim registered with the United Nations and tried to make enough money to survive.

Police often arrested the father of two and dragged him to the Thailand border when he could not cough up a bribe. Corrupt police once detained Karim for 18 months.

But his resilience kept him returning and after a few years he caught wind of a place where a thing called "respect" existed.

"I know that in Australia (you got) respect as a human," he said.

"That is why I am here in Australia. I now know the respect as a human."

Like many before him, Karim heard of Australia on the TV in Malaysia and from other refugees.

He heard they accepted refugees and he would be able to go to Australia.

Unbeknown to him, Karim, like Tahir, also paid a man in Malaysia named "Gamu" $7500 Malaysian ringgit after making him a promise of freedom.

"I got a bus and (they) took me through the jungle to where some boats were," he said

"I heard there were Burmese (on the boat) but I couldn't know because it was dark. I was on the boat for six days and then got on a second boat when it was dark."

By then Karim was 18. It had taken him 11 years to reach his final destination.

He left behind his wife and two kids, whom he has not spoken to since he left.

After more than a year in an Australian detention centre, Karim and Tahir settled in Rockhampton.

During their interview with the Australian Federal Police, Tahir provided the name and whereabouts of the man who profited from his plight.

But instead, the AFP prosecuted the driver and mechanic of the boat Tahir and Karim boarded in their desperate bid for a better life.

Both Tahir and Karim gave evidence about the two Indonesian men accused of operating the leaky vessel.

They provided an insight into the horrific treatment, neglect and suffering that drove them on a long, exhausting journey.

The two men survived similar circumstances for a similar cause and continue to lead similar lives.