“There are still over a thousand immigrants, human beings held in detention today. There’s is no law stating a limit on their time in detention, they have no time frame in which they will be “processed” this is worse then treatment of prisoners. We are literally imprisoning children and women, vulnerable people, heightening their risk of mental and physical abuse. There have been reports of children developing mental illness from living in these conditions.
It is a human right to have a chance to a better life, this was not our land to begin with, we have no right over it, we are doing nothing but creating even more human rights issues. I just ask people to first and foremostly educate themselves, there are organisations like ASRC.org.au to support. I hope to raise awareness of these issues, we have seen a shift in the past few weeks, we are seeing the power of change our collective voices can make .
My fathers upbringing in a war torn country contributed to his mental illness but I am grateful that there are resources helping him have a fulfilled life, sane.org and beyond blue to name a few. It’s important to donate and support these people to continue their work but also most importantly we need to shift the way we understand and include people living with mental illness in our day to day life.” - Thao Tran
Thao is passionate about human rights and mental health awareness and on the eighth episode of the NJAG podcast she speaks about her family’s experience as asylum seekers and dealing with mental illness. Thank you so much Thao for your powerful words and for sharing your story.
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