Helping hand: Counsellor Clare Barrett and Afghan Aman Yari at Corio’s CatholiCare office.
JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
A LOT of pain lies behind the quiet, brown eyes of 18-year-old Afghan refugee Aman Yari.
He was resettled in Geelong in April through multicultural service provider Diversitat. Aman now participates in CatholicCare’s program at North Geelong Secondary College.
Aman said he grew up in a small Afghan village until the Taliban killed his father and brother. He fled with his mother and two sisters to the capital, Kabul.
“My mother was scared the Taliban would come after me also. No one is safe from the Taliban.”
Aman managed to reach Australia after a three-month trek from Pakistan to Malaysia and Indonesia. A boat then ferried him to Christmas Island.
He was in detention in Darwin for a year while authorities established his refugee status.
“It was very dangerous and cost a lot of money but I am happy to be here, to be safe,” Aman said quietly.
“In Afghanistan I only hoped to be alive the next day but here I hope to go to university and do medical science, perhaps to become a dentist.”
Aman’s counsellor, Clare Barrett, said his mother and sisters had been persecuted severely since he fled to Pakistan.
“As the only living male he’s culturally responsible to take care of his family but he cannot and it affects him deeply.”
