Chapter 5: Living stateless in Australia “Because we came by boat and spent time in detention on Nauru, we are not allowed to apply for a visa. We live in limbo.” — Nur* This chapter explores the everyday lived experience of stateless people in Australia, focusing on how an uncertain or unresolved legal status and a lack of formal legal recognition shapes the lived experience of statelessness. Many participants interviewed for this Report spoke to the inhibitions experienced by stateless people to establish a new life in Australia. Restrictions placed on a person’s ability to work, study, travel, be reunited with family members and buy a home in Australia resonated with stateless people’s experience of discrimination in their country of origin. Stateless people interviewed commonly reported feeling ‘stuck’ or existing in a state of limbo, particularly when they have a ‘transitory’ or temporary legal status with no prospect of naturalisation. Stateless parents spoke of the sacrifices they willingly made coming to Australia in the hope that their children will enjoy a better life, while also expressing fear that their children’s futures will be negatively impacted by their statelessness and precarious legal status in Australia. “Within my community in Australia, I see so many stateless people who haven’t been given visas. For more than 13 years they have been on Bridging Visas—without having the chance to be interviewed and state their case. This limbo; it plays with their mind and causes many of them to have mental health problems. That makes me feel incredibly sad.” — Hassan* — Amir “The Unauthorised Maritime Arrival cohort is the best example of administrative and political incompetence that I’ve ever seen in my time of working. Applications were meant to be a fast-track process. Over 12 years later, there has finally been a change in government position to finally simplify the process for residency, which left many children not holding a visa or holding necessary citizen documents of any other country.” The impact that uncertainty and a precarious legal status has on the lives of stateless people in Australia was echoed by professionals working with stateless communities. “(T)he limbo that these individuals are living in and particularly for stateless people, they’ve never had a place that truly accepts them and then when they’re in this cohort, they’re still living that life in Australia and that’s completely unacceptable.” — Nicki Lees, Australian Legal Practitioner, Maurice Blackburn 52 Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness | Understanding Statelessness in Australia “I am old now, and I am still not a citizen. It has been too long to wait. My time is finished now, I only care about my children. The future is about my children.” Legal practitioners interviewed for this Report spoke of the various systemic and bureaucratic processes that have delayed the processing of refugee visas over the years as exacerbating the wait times and challenges experienced by stateless people. — Carina Ford, Australian Legal Practitioner, Carina Ford Immigration Lawyers