Refugees fleeing conflict zones experience the heartbreak of being separated from their families for decades. It is a familiar story for Mohammad Zeki Rezayi fled Afghanistan in 2012 and watched his children grow up from afar. Never knowing when he would be able to see them again in person. After a law change this year, his wife and children were able to join him in Australia.
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00:00A phone call that only emphasises the distance between them.
00:15Mohammed has watched his children grow up on a screen for almost 12 years.
00:26He set up an incomplete life in Hobart, a long way from his family in Afghanistan, a
00:32place he fled, facing persecution as a Hazara after his brother was killed by the Taliban.
00:46Mohammed is the human face of an intense political debate.
00:50He arrived in Australia by boat in 2012, a perilous method that resulted in countless
00:57deaths of people desperate for a better life.
01:01In 2013, the coalition cracked down on people smuggling with Operation Sovereign Borders,
01:07a policy of turning back boats and declaring anyone who arrived illegally would not be
01:13allowed to permanently settle in Australia.
01:16Mohammed was left in limbo.
01:18It meant that he didn't have the same rights as anyone with a permanent visa had, and that
01:23also meant that he didn't have the right to apply for his wife and children to come with
01:27him.
01:28I lost my hope.
01:30I lost your hope and I think, oh, not coming that day to have my family with me.
01:37But after more than a decade, Mohammed's hopes lifted.
01:41A legal change meant 19,000 refugees on particular visas could apply for permanent residency.
01:49And if that was successful, he could then sponsor his family to come to Australia.
01:55So they got to work, getting Mohammed a permanent visa, then making a case for a unification.
02:03They won.
02:04Hi Mohammed, how are you?
02:06And I asked three, four times from the Patriot, are you OK?
02:12Got some very good news.
02:14This is right.
02:15The case has been successful and the visa's been granted.
02:19My family got a visa, they are coming.
02:23He said yes, yeah.
02:29At Hobart Airport, Mohammed eagerly waits.
02:33This is a moment he's dreamt of for years.
02:37His eldest son, now 23 years old, the first to be embraced.
02:44Completely changed the life, to be honest.
02:49When we live alone, it was so hard, but now it's very, I'm very happy, you know.
02:59More than 17,000 people in positions similar to Mohammed have now moved on to a permanent visa.
03:07It does show the impact that immigration laws have on people's life, both positive and negative.
03:13I'm very happy and I wish to everyone is living with family and together.
03:19Life with family going very, very well.