"I leave everything": Encountering Grief with an Hazara Refugee

Abstract

Australia’s bitter refugee debate rarely includes the voices of those fleeing. Phillips uses oral history to share the story of Abdul, an Hazara refugee from Afghanistan. The chapter traces the way persecution pervaded Abdul’s life over decades, derailing aspirations, bringing personal tragedies and forcing him to leave all he held dear. It reveals the trauma of flight and the challenges of resettlement. It discusses the difficult process of encountering Abdul’s grief and examines his use of silence, metaphor and digressions as a framework in which to communicate, manage sorrow and highlight Hazaras’ plight. By privileging an Hazara perspective, this study invites empathetic imagining of the lived experience beyond the public debate and seeks to disquiet and add to Australia’s historical understanding of its recent arrivals.