As part of our Health and Human development series
Racism hurts all.
This is a student's story about how racism had affected him as an Afghan uni student living in Melbourne. He is from RMIT University. He also has a disability. Here is his story. We called him at home in Iraq via Skype.
"Because I had a disability I was called names and bullied at uni. This affected me psychologically and physically It was so bad that I had to see a counselor and had failed my subjects as a result. I am from Afghanistan where the Australians think I am a terrorist. I was once bullied on the tram late at night when coming home by a group of drunken youths"
" I was crying late at night and was very scared about my safety in Australia"
" At that time my family was living in Iraq where there were financial and bank sanctions, hence I was worried about paying my fees. RMIT was not very understanding of my situation at the time".
" I was fined quite a few times by the ticket inspectors on the tram for failing to produce a valid MYKI when I couldn't afford one. Each time I was fined $207 which I couldn't pay due to the financial sanctions and hardships. I was bullied to pay. I used to live in the block of flats on Racecourse Road in Flemington where it was not always safe at night.
"By having to pay full fee unlike my domestic friends I felt like I was discriminated against. And that worsened the situation for me. "
"The DLU did nothing for me. Some of my lecturers called me names such as nigger. It got so bad that I wanted to go home and stay there and not go to my lectures."
He is not alone. In 2009-2011 many Indian students were racially abused. The Human rights commission has put together a campaign about working together as a community and is their fivwe year strategy.
Racism hurts all.
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| IImage courtesy of www.indigenous.gov.au |
This is a student's story about how racism had affected him as an Afghan uni student living in Melbourne. He is from RMIT University. He also has a disability. Here is his story. We called him at home in Iraq via Skype.
"Because I had a disability I was called names and bullied at uni. This affected me psychologically and physically It was so bad that I had to see a counselor and had failed my subjects as a result. I am from Afghanistan where the Australians think I am a terrorist. I was once bullied on the tram late at night when coming home by a group of drunken youths"
" I was crying late at night and was very scared about my safety in Australia"
" At that time my family was living in Iraq where there were financial and bank sanctions, hence I was worried about paying my fees. RMIT was not very understanding of my situation at the time".
" I was fined quite a few times by the ticket inspectors on the tram for failing to produce a valid MYKI when I couldn't afford one. Each time I was fined $207 which I couldn't pay due to the financial sanctions and hardships. I was bullied to pay. I used to live in the block of flats on Racecourse Road in Flemington where it was not always safe at night.
"By having to pay full fee unlike my domestic friends I felt like I was discriminated against. And that worsened the situation for me. "
"The DLU did nothing for me. Some of my lecturers called me names such as nigger. It got so bad that I wanted to go home and stay there and not go to my lectures."
He is not alone. In 2009-2011 many Indian students were racially abused. The Human rights commission has put together a campaign about working together as a community and is their fivwe year strategy.
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