Australian Story: July 25

Australian Story profiles Iranian-born Mojgan Shamsalipoor, a young woman who puts a human face to the issue of unauthorised boat arrivals in Australia.

This episode is introduced by Caroline Jones.

After fleeing terrible trauma in her home country, Iran, and making a hazardous boat journey, Mojgan Shamsalipoor found sanctuary in Brisbane.

“Mojgan’s story, before she came to Australia, is horrendous. This is a young girl who was subjected to rape and sexual abuse at the hands of family members. She was accused of being immoral, which is a crime over there.” – Kevin Kadirgamar, lawyer

At a Baha’i youth camp in Brisbane, Mojgan met a young Iranian refugee named Milad Jafari and they fell in love.

“And from that moment, when I sat down near the lake, I saw her eyes, I went, this is it. I couldn’t talk. I was like ‘Wow’ this is like too much for me and was like my dream come true.” – Milad Jafari

With the support of Milad and his high school, Mojgan began to recover from the ordeals of the past.

“When she first came to our school, it was very uncomfortable, because every time I saw her, she would always be crying and Milad would always be supporting her.” – Amber Moko, school friend

While waiting for a decision on her application for a protection visa, Mojgan and Milad married and were looking forward to a happier future.

“They were quite open about their relationship, I remember her talking about them being engaged in drama class and you know, and she was showing us her ring, and she was so happy.” – Eden Boyd, school friend

“We were truly happy together, and there was a time period between we got married and when she was detained, it was the best days of our life.” – Milad Jafari, Mojgan’s husband

Despite her apparent good fortune, Australia’s Refugee Tribunal decided that her case for asylum was not legitimate, and Mojgan is now back in detention with little prospect of fulfilling her dream of having a family with Milad and becoming a midwife.

But she has many supporters who are doing everything they can to persuade the government to release her back into the community.

They have organised several protest rallies to publicise Mojgan’s situation.

“We rallied our community, our P&C, our teachers in support of Mojgan. We became very galvanised.” – Jessica Walker, Deputy Principal, Yeronga High School

Mojgan’s lawyers have recently lodged a complaint to the Human Rights Commission, as well as a submission to Immigration Minister Peter Dutton who has a discretionary power to grant visas on compassionate grounds.

Mojgan and Milad are now awaiting the Minister’s decision and hope that she will soon be released from detention.

8pm Monday on ABC.