18 May 2005
A Knife's Edge
Virginia and Sereana share a sorry story. Both women came to Australia on tourist visas more than ten years ago, fell in love, married, had children and stayed living here illegally. Both were picked up by the Immigration Department and sent to Villawood Detention Centre in 2002. They have been there ever since - separated from their children.
Virginia's daughter Naomi was born in Villawood. She has just turned three and has never known life outside. But Virginia hasn't seen her Australian citizen son at all since she was detained. He is now seven.
Sereana has five children. The eldest two are Australian citizens because they were born in Australia and have lived here for more than ten years. The next two are under ten, so are not citizens. They live with their mother in Villawood along with their three-year-old brother - also an Australian citizen.
Both Sereana and Virginia have been living on a knife's edge for years - raising half their children behind the razor wire, desperately missing the others, under constant threat of deportation and facing a heartbreaking choice. If deported - do they keep their family together and take their Australian children with them to a life of poverty? Or do they leave them here in the hope they'll have a better life?
This is the human story behind the federal government's stance on deporting long-term visa overstayers.
UPDATE: Virginia and Naomi Leong were released from Villawood Detention Centre at 9:15pm on Monday 23 May, 2005. It's thought the Malaysian government's offer over the weekend to grant Naomi Malaysian citizenship on humanitarian grounds, combined with media pressure, contributed to their release. They were granted a Bridging Visa E - which means Virginia can't work and has no access to Medicare for her or Naomi. They are now waiting for the Minister's decision on whether they will be deported or whether they will be granted permanent residency.
This program won the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association-Amnesty International Human Rights Program Award in Februry 2006.
Presenter
Kirsti Melville
Producer
Kirsti Melville
