One stateless participant interviewed found that despite being allowed to work, it was practically easier to gain the work experience and build the professional relationships he needed by volunteering, given the short-term nature of his temporary visas made it too hard to seek employment. “Eventually I was given a Bridging Visa. I was allowed to work and a kind man took me on as a mechanical volunteer. He helped me learn English. I now work as a machine operator. The Bridging Visa was hard though, because it would expire all the time, every six months. So even though I could work, it was easier to volunteer at the mechanics.” — Hassan* For one participant, discrimination in seeking employment was compounded by both his disability and statelessness. “In addition to studying, I wanted to work. I applied for 117 jobs. I went to over 50 interviews. I knew the issue was not me. The main issue was unconscious bias. You step into the interview, and the interviewee would say, “Wow.” They would say amongst themselves, “If I was blind, I wouldn’t be able to do this job.” Perhaps it wasn’t always out loud, but they would say that in their head. When I was in the interview, they focused on my disability rather than my ability to do the job.” — Amir For another stateless person interviewed, even volunteering proved too difficult, due to a lack of documentation and excessive regulations placed on her by the Department of Immigration. “I’m not allowed to work. It’s also hard for me to volunteer—I want to be useful and do something with my time. I tried volunteering for a large charity, but I couldn’t get a police check because I don’t have enough documents. I also need to get permission from my case manager to volunteer. I feel like they control every aspect of my life.” — Nur* Stateless participants interviewed for this research spoke strongly about their desire to work to support themselves, so as not to be reliant on government welfare. want; no-one wants to be a liability and feel useless…. It just allows me to keep my dignity, in a nutshell. And for someone like me—maybe it’s a cultural background, I’m not sure—when you take that away from me, you might as well kill me. I mean, the worst periods of my life were when I couldn’t provide for my family, when I couldn’t take care of my mother, where I just felt useless as a man. So giving me that power back is priceless. It’s almost you’ve given me a second lease on life.” — Fadi By contrast, another stateless participant spoke of her confusion regarding her work ethic and contribution to the Australian economy not allowing her to in turn, fully integrate into the Australian community due to restrictions on her visa. “I had such limited options. Here I was, working, paying taxes, and yet the only options for me was to apply for a refugee protection visa. I suspect many others walk this path too. There was no other option for me, no other pathway available. I expected to have more rights, especially given how I’m contributing to the economy. I’m not a burden on the government. I’d expect that I’d be allowed to visit my sisters in other safe parts of the world, and come back to my job, my life here.” — Amira* Overall, the desire to work, to contribute, and the dignity that comes from that was a strong theme across interviews. “I look at all my friends from the community. They become workaholics because they identify with that and feel they need to appreciate this country. But as soon as they are not working, their mental health gets worse because they haven’t got their visa situation sorted. And they feel their life is in limbo. It’s kind of a journey where you never know where you are.” — Amir 5.1.5 Exclusion from belonging “The hardest part is that Myanmar says we don’t belong. I come here and the Australian government say slowly, slowly, step-bystep. So where do I go? What can I do? No country says I belong.” “I don’t want to be a liability. I’ve been taking care of myself and my mother since I was 16; I’ve been paying the bills and putting food on the table. So the last thing I want is to come to this country and sit on government relief, and rely on them to feed me and feel useless. I’ve always hated feeling useless…. — Nasir* …(working after arrival in Australia) allowed me to keep my pride, and keep my dignity. I know sometimes they speak about it negatively, but I feel proud that I came here with a job, that from day one I’m earning and paying my taxes and I’m contributing, and I’m being productive. It’s just so empowering, I cannot tell you. And if you ask every single refugee, or person who’s struggling, that’s what they “Just the personal, or human, experience of people who are coming to Australia, they’ve not been accepted by any country, and then this next country is not accepting them; it’s a very emotional thing for a lot of my clients, if not every practitioner’s client.” 58 Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness | Understanding Statelessness in Australia Both stateless people and stakeholders interviewed for this Report spoke to the devastation of stateless people fleeing a place where they were not accepted, only to experience exclusion in Australia. — Australian Legal Practitioner