By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
KHAN Hazara has no shortage of drive but there’s one ultimate goal that has even eluded him.
The Eumemmering refugee – and now Australian citizen – is a father of three in his mid-twenties who put in 120-hour weeks to build a small bakery into his own Halal-food supermarket Dandy Mart.
He scoured Australia for a suitable site but settled close to home in 2012 – finding a good position and a lot of loyal customers in Hampton Park.
He’s now happy with the business, scaling his working week to five days and sponsoring a range of community groups and festivals.
But the one missing piece in his life is his family – his mother, his wife and children.
The Afghan refugees are still stranded dangerously in Quetta, Pakistan, where their Hazara ethnicity makes them potential targets for persecution and bombings.
Despite his desperation, his application for them to reunite with him in Australia has foundered.
His latest advice from a migration lawyer is a wait of up to 12 months.
“I call them every single night. I just hope to find some ways to get them here.
“The family (reunion) application… no one understands it.
“When you ask them, they say the application is in the queue.
“They say first bring your (immediate) family and then you can apply for your mum.
“It’s really annoying. I don’t want mum to be left there by herself.”
Khan has visited them four times since arriving in Australia. At times he risked being unable to return here since “there were no guarantees on a permanent visa”.
He’s since remedied that situation by becoming an Australian citizen. Last week, he set off to see them again as the final leg of a business trip to Dubai, China and Thailand.
Khan arrived in Australia as a refugee in 2009 after a gruelling clandestine trip through Malaysia and Indonesia.
Luckily for him his detention on Christmas Island was brief.
He realises many “like me” are languishing for uncertain durations in Manus Island and Nauru detention centres.
He also knows many local refugees of his age remain “lost” without a vocation and beset by financial problems and mental health issues, he said.
“Hazaras have been killed for so long – it affects your mind.
“You don’t come here to make money, but save your life.”
