Please take a moment...And imagine, if you can, how she feels...
...She was born in South Africa. From the age of 4, she was sexually abused by her father, her cousin, and the Baptist Church...She developed severe Dissociative Disorder as a coping mechanism to survive the trauma...Still, she matriculated from high school...She started working at the age of 19...She struggled, and yet she never quit.
She spent her entire life running from life, feeling as though she did not belong anywhere...She left South Africa and started over in London with her husband and three-year-old son. She juggled not being late between childcare and work...Lost a job because of it...She felt alone...Often she would dissociate without warning, feeling as if her body was going to shut down...Still, she never quit.
At three months pregnant with her second son, her marriage broke down due to her husband's infidelity. She filed for divorce, and worked full-time until the baby's due date, and then returned to work when he was four weeks old. she walked away from that marriage with nothing. Her and her two son's thrived through all the challenges and hardships...And, she never quit.
Her second marriage seemed promising...Until he left her with bruises. She gave him the benefit of the doubt, and their first daughter was born. After ten years in London, they immigrated to Australia for a better way of life...She struggled...But she kept putting one foot in front of the other. Their second daughter was born at Wollongong Hospital...She still struggled...And still, she never quit.
Every four years she independently renewed her subclass 461 Visa without complication and she abided by all the immigration rules. In 2007 after being triggered by her eldest daughter who was coming up to the age of 4, she began a long journey of intensive psychotherapy. She fought to heal because her children were her everything...Are her everything! During that time she underwent sixteen psychiatric admissions, her husband kicked her out of the matrimonial home while she was dissociated (so her psychiatrist organised for her to be sent to a women's refuge - He did care), her husband withheld money so she had nothing...He has the bought house and car care of her contribution to their savings...Still, she never quit.
In 2010 she overdosed on Seroquel...Because the 'commands' inside were too loud...She fought in Resuscitation for two days...She pulled through.
She couldn't afford a lawyer, so she was represented by NSW Legal Aid in the divorce. She was not heard despite her psychiatrist stating that her childhood abuse does not define her and that "She was a fit mother". She walked out of the marriage without a single cent or piece of furniture. Legal Aid forced her under duress to sign the documents...She cried because she felt what it was like to be 'labelled'...Still, she did not quit.
Her twin sister and her two children came to Australia in 2007 from South Africa to offer family support, and her sister became her carer. Australian Home Affairs had given her sister incorrect information, so she arrived onshore by default. In 2014 an Immigration solicitor acted on her sister's behalf for Ministerial Intervention and Hon. Chris Bowen granted her sister and her children permanent Carers Visas...But he failed the 'patient' who had fought so hard against all odds to heal, who had lived in Australia for 10 years, whose youngest daughter was born in Australia - He gave her 28 days to depart Australia...Was her sister expected to care for her over water?
She was told that this corrupt Immigration solicitor did not know her job...So she was just a victim of circumstance...This Immigration solicitor has not been held liable for her actions...She is still practicing.
Her ex-husband physically and emotionally abused her 2 sons and her sister's 2 children, which has affected these children into adulthood...He was reported over the years by various professional bodies to the Department of Child Services...He has not been held liable for his actions, and there have been no consequences for him.
For 4 years she was forced to live without her children! On the day she flew out of Australia, and was already distraught, she was pulled aside at Kingsford Smith Airport like a convict, to be informed that she was denied entry back into Australia for the next 3 years, even for a holiday (again incorrect information given). She returned to England. She missed her children every single day! With the time difference, she hardly allowed herself to sleep, in case they needed her and she missed the call...She became exhausted and sick...Still, she didn't quit.
She was diagnosed with cyclical vomiting...She worked full time, even when she was vomiting on the side of the road...Even when the HR department called her in every week concerned about her health...Still, she did not quit.
Chronic infection in her body was overlooked in the UK, to the point that the cells in her intestines had changed...Still, she did not quit.
In 2017 when the 3-year ban was 'lifted', she fought for a Visitor Visa to be able to see her children for 3 weeks...She was interrogated by a case officer in London and questioned as to why she did not remain onshore in Australia with her children...For weeks she ran between work and the library, and had to work the time in...She stayed up night after night sending attachments fighting to see her children...Eventually a 3 week Holiday Visa was granted when she told the London Immigration Officer that she needed to hug her children - To all gain a second breath...She was exhausted and broken, but she never gave up.
In 2018 she was advised to return to Australia on another Visitor Visa (This was the third time she was given incorrect information from Australian Home Affairs and Immigration solicitors). The Administrative Appeals Tribunal Board advised her that due to this incorrect information any renewal of her 461 had now fallen away. Her case was referred for Ministerial Intervention. In 2019 she was forced to quit her Customer Service and Claims job because she had become so sick that she had to be tested for cancer and autoimmune disease...She was urgently placed on a compound medication from Japan that cost her $300 per month, so she could only afford this for 1 month...Still, she did not quit...
Australian Home Affairs placed her on a Bridging Visa E, which has made it near impossible to secure work, and she was not eligible for any help...Many times she was homeless, sleeping in a car in car parks, going without even water for days...She was also not eligible for any assistance with a worldwide pandemic...And yet, the Australian government provides free meth. clinics, hands out housing and financial support, on a silver platter, to people who have never worked a day in their life, are high on Ice or shooting Heroin...But a mother who is an upright citizen, has worked hard her entire life, has never been on drugs...Is persecuted for others' negligence...Ripped away from her children without a second thought because a corrupt immigration solicitor submitted her client's renewal documents 1 day late, when she'd had everything from the client months before...Still, she did not quit.
Time and time again she was in tears and feeling hopeless...During her times of crisis when she was sobbing , making call after call, she was given contact details for assistance from Australian Home Affairs and the Australian Human Rights Commission when they all very well KNEW that she was not eligible for any help...She had nowhere to turn...Still, she did not quit.
She started her own creative career...She self-published 2 novels, started an online blog to help others from her own experience and trauma, she partnered with her 'Bruv' from the Virgin Islands, United States, to start fortnightly podcasts to be a voice for the children (and webinars in the near future), she taught herself how to write screenplays because she is also not eligible for any study (one of her short screenplays is currently with a South African producer/director under consideration for theatre production), She has adapted her novel When Angels Cry into a screenplay, and she is near completion of her next 2 feature screenplays that her Manager in Florida, United States, will be forwarding to Producers.
She is drowning in medical debt...She has lost so much financially, emotionally, mentally, and physically...Time away from her children that no amount of money can ever buy back...And still to date she has had no explanation from Home Affairs...Her human rights have been stripped away...Her independence has been taken from her...Australian Home Affairs has left her powerless...And yet the people involved in this complex case, who wronged her, have carried on as if nothing happened...She, on the other hand, has paid the price for their wrongdoings over and over again.
Now imagine for a moment...That YOU are this mother...
How would you feel? Would you feel wronged? Would you have survived this long?
Well...I AM THIS MOTHER...And AGAIN, I AM speaking out against injustice. I don't have faith that anybody will hear me...
I couldn't care less anymore about remaining in Australia - I have nothing left that Australian Home Affairs can take from me...But they will never take my integrity!
This fight for mine and my children's God-given human right has not been worth it! I thought that if you fight for something REAL like children's rights and human rights, that the right thing HAS to be done...But I'm beginning to believe that there is no justice within governments. This has been going on for 7 years! How much longer should I wait?...I don't want to do this anymore! Now I take my power back! I WILL NOT lose my fire and passion, and I will achieve every one of my dreams, against all odds - I am coming for everything they said I couldn't have!
Thank you for taking the time to read this, if you have...But I'm certain that those in power will all look away now because they're not living it...With all due respect, I have no reason to believe otherwise with the experience I've had in Australia.
I have been wronged, and I will not keep quiet, even if I stand alone!
I believed in Australia once...Not anymore...
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