Afghan refugees rally for simpler pathway to permanent protection in Australia

Because Zaki, an ethnic Hazara, arrived in Australia by boat as a teenager after fleeing the Taliban in Afghanistan, a federal government has struck out any chance of him becoming a citizen in the place he's called home for a decade.

"My current protection is temporary," he said.

"My journey started back in 2012 seeking protection and to find a safe place that I can call home.

"Still, I am in search for that place."

Zaki will join many other Afghan refugees, who also remain in a bureaucratic limbo, at Parliament House on Tuesday to push for changes to the complex and time-consuming system.

The midday rally, organised by the Diaspora Advocacy Network for Afghanistan, will call on the federal government to grant permanent protection to those from Afghanistan who have left families, friends and loved ones behind.

Under the existing system, refugees and asylum seekers can re-apply for temporary protection visas, known as Safe Haven Enterprise visas, every three-to-five years.

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Zaki has already received one of the visas after being processed as a genuine refugee and is now in the process of applying for a second five-year visa.

But the stressful, complicated process requires him to relive all the events, and provides little room for error.

"We've gone through so much in our home country, we lost our family members, we were targeted to be killed. And then getting to Australia was another horrible experience," he said.

"Every time you go for a [visa] interview, you have to recall everything that happened."

"You carry on with your PTSD forever."

Rohollah Hassani is another Afghan refugee on a temporary protection visa who hopes to push for change in Tuesday's rally.

He now has work as a painter in Canberra but fears he will be competing against skilled migrants with tertiary degrees for a permanent visas.

"The pathway is so difficult to get a permanent visa, especially for those people who are ... tradies," he said.

"It's almost impossible for us. At the same time, our ... country back home is not safe as well.

"So we have a lot of stress."

Both Rohallah and Zaki have also left behind family - mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters.

Zaki said he fears the worst each time he receives a call from his mother.

They both hope Tuesday's rally serves as a reminder of the human impact of government policies.

And a reminder of the threat remaining in Afghanistan for the families left behind under the brutal regime.

"This visa doesn't work for us. It doesn't give us any hope for the future. We cannot set up a life," Rohollah said.

"We just want from the government to bring some changes in order to give us a [pathway to] permanent residency so we can bring our families here, and then we can have a life at least."

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