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Egyptian Asylum-Seeker Eyes Risky Journey to Australia
February 14, 2012

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kales
9:51am Feb 15, 2012

Always amazes me that through the trauma, the running and hiding there is time to make babies. In this case six of them and the youngest is just one year old. Also that is one hell of a big burden to put on Australia.

TGIF
8:03am Feb 15, 2012

What is it that he is NOT telling here that this man and his family cannot worship openly as a Muslim in his own Muslim country?? What is the belief that could land him and his family in detention? The story just does not add up.


pakpeter
5:58am Feb 15, 2012

I don't get it, the muslim brotherhood won the Egyptian election. If this guy can't go back to Egypt now and no other muslim country wants him he must have some unacceptable characteristics.

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Bogor. Married with six children, Egyptian asylum-seeker Sayed Ahmed Abdellatif says he is ready to risk everything, even his family, to reach Australia.

Hundreds of asylum-seekers lose their lives annually on the dangerous journey, many of them women and children. In December, an overloaded vessel carrying some 250 mostly Iranian and Afghan asylum-seekers, sank off Java, killing all but 47 on board.

But for 41-year-old Abdellatif, who faces possible extradition and a 15-year prison sentence of hard labor in Egypt for his religious affiliations, the risk is worth it. He plans to pay people smugglers up to $17,000 to move his family to Australia. IRIN met Abdellatif outside Bogor, now a hub for asylum-seekers in the country, on the eve of his trip.

“It’s been almost 20 years that I have been on the run and I can’t take it any more. I’ve given up hope. Egypt is supposed to be a Muslim country, but in reality it isn’t. Those who follow their beliefs openly face the risk of arrest and detention. I myself was arrested three times. Thousands of people face similar persecution, which is why I fled.

“Since leaving Egypt, I have taken my family from Albania to the UK and then onward to Iran. For years I languished in an Iraqi refugee camp there, pretending to be Palestinian lest I be found out and returned to Egypt. Later we travelled to Malaysia via India on fake passports and onward to Indonesia, again illegally. Throughout this journey, I faced repeated arrest and detention, as have members of my family.

“I arrived in Malaysia from Iran in 2010 before making my way to Indonesia in the hopes of taking my family to the UK. After boarding the plane in Jakarta, we were again arrested in Singapore and sent back to Indonesia on June 3, 2010. I applied for refugee status on August 30, 2010, but almost two years on have no idea what is happening with my case.

“As a result, I have no choice but to make my way to Australia on my own. I cannot return to Egypt and I can’t stay here. I lost 20 years of my life looking for a safe place for myself and my family. Now I need to risk it all, including the life of my 1-year-old son who was born here.

“Everyone tells me it’s dangerous and yes, the risks are high, but I have to do it.

“I know there is no guarantee I will make it. I also know I am putting the lives of my children at risk, but I’m ready to die at sea.

“If I go by boat, at least I have a hope of reaching Australia. If I stay here, I have nothing.”

According to the UN Refugee Agency there are more than 4,000 asylum-seekers and recognized refugees in Indonesia today.

IRIN