The real threat to refugees is politicians who give neo-Nazis the green light

I am one of the organizers of the 100-day refugee camp outside the Department of Home Affairs office in Melbourne. I am a refugee from Sri Lanka, a mother of two, a disability support worker and a proud trade union member. My family and I are part of the community in every way except our visa status.

Our protest was to demand justice for the 8,500 people who, like us, have been abandoned the “fast track” of the former coalition government asylum process. We have suffered 12 years of uncertainty because of an unfair system that has now been abolished. As victims of that system, we deserve justice and equality when it comes to visas.

Last Tuesday evening we packed up camp and held a final, peaceful rally through the streets of Melbourne. There were about 700 of us, our families, our friends and supporters.

About twenty neo-Nazis attacked our meeting. They were dressed entirely in black and had their faces covered. They held racist signs. They shouted: “Australia for the white man”. They filmed and laughed at us. It was a coordinated and organized attack.

Police intervened and pepper-sprayed both the protesters and the neo-Nazi group. Ultimately, the neo-Nazis were pushed back. But they were allowed to walk away and held their meeting elsewhere, near the center of the city.

This is not the first time we have been attacked by neo-Nazis on the streets of the city we call home. A few weeks ago a gang attacked our camp at night and shouted: ‘Fuck off, we’re full’. One of the attackers dislocated the arm of one of our organizers, who had to be taken to hospital. He returned to the camp and continued until the hundredth day with his arm in a bandage.

Politicians and leaders were quick to condemn the men who attacked us on Tuesday evening. They have called neo-Nazis disgusting and cowards – and they are.

But they ignore the real reason for these types of attacks. Politicians from all sides are giving the green light to far-right groups as they blame refugees and migrants for every problem in the country, from housing to the cost of living. We get blamed for raising the cost of living even though we work two jobs and pay for everything from our medical care to our children’s education. We are blamed for confiscating resources, even though many women in the camp work day and night in elderly care or as nurses.

We were forced onto the streets because governments have failed us for twelve years. They didn’t listen when a group of 22 women, including me, ran from Melbourne to Canberra last year to demand an end to our visa limbo and uncertainty. They haven’t listened for the last hundred days.

Refugees of all ages – most of them women – had to sleep in the cold and rain for 100 days just to demand our basic rights. We had to do all this to stay in the country where our children were born and where we have built our lives for the past twelve years.

What neo-Nazis are doing to us is what they would do to others if they had power. The real reason for these attacks is the politics of fear and division.

We reject this policy, and so do our friends and allies who marched with us on Tuesday evening. It is time for the government to reject this too.