Fawaz Alewa doesn't know when he'll be able to see his young children again.
The 32-year-old was transferred to Christmas Island in September last year, after more than two years in Sydney's Villawood Detention Centre.
He's now pleading with the federal government to put an end to his immigration limbo and to let him see his family, who are thousands of kilometres away back in Sydney.
Mr Alewa, 32, came to Australia in 2012 on tourist visa, but decided to stay in the country after falling in love with his now-wife.
In 2018, after he was charged following a drink driving incident, he was detained in Villawood. His wife was eight months pregnant at the time.
“It was the worst day of my life," his wife, who did not wish to be named, told SBS News.
"I was waiting in the car for him to come back to the car when he called me and said call the lawyer because it doesn’t look like I’m leaving here.
“I was really scared, I was pregnant, I didn’t know what was going to happen."
Life in Villawood made it extremely difficult for the family to stay connected, but at least Mr Alewa was able to see his children in-person.
Fawaz Alewa's son. Source: SBS News
“In Villawood, they would come and visit me every day, I didn’t want my kids to think they didn’t have their dad, I wanted to feel like I was there for them just living in a different house,” Mr Alewa told SBS News.
However, after the worsening coronavirus pandemic forced detention centres to tighten the rules around visits, Mr Alewa was no longer able to see his family so often.
“I couldn’t hug my kids, or play with them, or smell them, I would video call and that would make it worse...sometimes I just start crying when they video called me.
"I can’t hold the phone anymore...I didn’t want them to think I’m not there for them."
This situation was especially difficult for their five-year-old daughter.
“All the dads were invited to take their kids to school for the day and my daughter was asking my wife, how come my dad is never here to take me to school,” Mr Alewa said.
Fawaz Alewa and his daughter. Source: SBS News
“My daughter was best friends with her dad, her dad was her entire life at the age of three... even when she would wake up in the middle of the night she would always go to him and not me,” his wife said.
Staying connected was hard enough for the family during the pandemic, but trying to keep a normal relationship became virtually impossible when Mr Alewa was transferred to Christmas Island in September last year.
“On the 13th of September I was sleeping, and six officers came to my room and said pack up your stuff and they give me one bag and said put your clothes in here for ten days quarantine, then you’re going to Christmas Island...they didn’t say why,” he said.
Fawaz Alewa on Christmas Island. Source: SBS News
“I called my wife at 4am and told her to call the lawyer. The lawyer got really angry when she found out, she said they only take people with criminal records to Christmas Island.”
Stuck in limbo
Mr Alewa is one of dozens of refugees and asylum seekers who have been transferred to Christmas Island after it was reopened in August last year.
The centre was initially reopened to temporarily house those in immigration detention to create more space in onshore facilities.
Border Force at the time said that only refugees who’d been convicted of serious criminal offences would be transferred to the facility.
Later, Border Force said that “only people who failed the legislated character test would be sent to Christmas Island” and that there was “no immediate plans to relocate refugees and asylum seekers.”
Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition in Sydney, said the scope for a character assessment is very broad.
“By the discretion of the minister, if someone is found to have a character issue, which can be anything from charges for not paying for a train ticket to a minor drug offence, the minister can use the charge to make a discretion about his character,” Mr Rintoul said.
