Every year thousands of people around the world migrate to other countries searching for a better future. Some of them have gone through unthinkable atrocities and being at home is not an option anymore. Their stories have a common trait: sorrow.
Migration Officer and Acting President for the Association of Fee Free Migration Agents Sydney (AFFMA) Joël Gédéon finds it hard to avoid getting emotional when talking about the many cases that regularly come to his desk.
A former teacher, Gédéon, originally from Paris, started his journey 11 years ago when he came to Australia for a holiday. Influenced by his partner, Gédéon applied for permanent residency that was granted three weeks later due to the shortage of teachers in Australia at the time.
But this traveller was not prepared to settle in Australia yet. For a couple of years, he lived in Thailand and Malaysia where he had the chance to get involved, and work with, refugee charity organisations.
In 2009, Gédéon returned to Australia where he became a migration agent. He never imagined what destiny held for him and the impact he would have on other people’s lives.
In 2013, he realised the need for a charity organisation to assist refugees and those who have been politically persecuted. “A lot of refuges do not have money…most of them earn $200 a month back in their countries. A migration agent can charge between $5000 and $15,000 per application,” Gédéon says.
Located at the Newtown train station, AFFMA is a charity organisation that provides advice to financially disadvantaged people in relation to most refugee and humanitarian visas. Gédéon receives several applications and inquiries each week.
“We get flooded with applications. Sometimes I have to reject some of them because I do not have enough time,” he says with regret.
Every case is different. Gédéon says it takes nearly two months to prepare an application. These types of visas require a thorough investigation to determine the truth of the stories told by the applicants.
Today, the Department of Immigration has added dozens of pages and requirements to these applications. A refuge application now consists of 72 pages.
“This increase in the requirements is mainly due to dodgy applications lodged in the past,” Gédéon says. However, this is not the only obstacle facing these types of visas. The Abbott government has cut funding for every refugee charity organisation in Australia, including the Refugee Council of Australia and the Red Cross.
The Red Cross has helped hundreds of refugees to finance the health check cost required in their applications. This cost varies from $300 to $900 depending on the applicant’s country of birth. According to Gédéon, these funding cuts have forced the Red Cross to let go 200 staff members.
“No government pays me, no company pays me,”Gédéon says bluntly. This has undoubtedly been one of his major challenges, but he stills wakes up every morning with the hope to change someone’s life.
He proudly says that no application he has lodged has been rejected so far. That is a good thing because Gédéon’s biggest reward is when he tells a client – especially one he knows has been through a particularly harrowing time – that their visa has been granted.
His eyes tear up as he shares the story of a family in Afghanistan forced to watch the violation and murder of their young daughter by the Taliban. “I do not understand how humans can be so cruel to each other,”Gédéon says.
Stories like these encourage Gédéon to keep doing what he is doing.
For those whose only hope of a peaceful life is in exile away from family and friends, the support of organisations like the Association of Fee Free Migration Agents Sydney is invaluable.
Gédéon receives a lot of inquiries including from other migration agents who call him for advice. He is currently looking for volunteers to help him with the workload. To volunteer or make a donation go to http://www.freemigrationagents.org.au/donate/
