Maroun Ateyeh: My Story
Migration has been a widely discussed topic in Australia in the last decade. It is a very important topic in my opinion as it has lives in the balance. We often see boats full of asylum seekers on the news. In the news, we could tell that there is a lot of casualties in the boat and many people that are sick. This shows that people from other countries are eager to come to Australia to find safety and live a happy life. But the question is, why is the Australian Government so against this? In my point of view, it’s a bit hypocritical, the first people to land in Australia came by boat, why can’t the asylum seekers do the same?
I take this topic to heart as I have experience of this. At the time I was born, Lebanon was mid-way in war. My dad was a Captain in the South Lebanon army. In my village (named Debel), my dad made a hiding place under our house, incase if we were to be raided, we would hide in there. The enemy found out about this, and so sent a spy to get rid of it. The spy was in disguise and so walked through our village casually, he got to our house and sneaked into the bathroom. He planted a bomb in there and a few minutes later, it exploded. If was in the room next to it sleeping, at the age of 6 months. My dad rescued me and so I was safe, my family was fine too. My parents decided that it wasn’t safe to live in Lebanon anymore, and so we flew to Israel, who helped us as South Lebanon were allies with Israel. We stayed in Israel for 2 years with some of my cousins, living a peaceful life. After 1 and a half years had passed, we were granted permission to make settlement into Australia but without my cousins.
Due to migration, I was able to live a much more peaceful life than I would have in Lebanon. I now have an education and am working on my future goals after I finish school. I think that without the Australian Government giving us access into Australia, I would not have an education and would be left with no future. This is why I am so passionate, everytime I discuss this topic with someone.