‘WHEN WE LANDED in Adelaide, my mum, my
sister and I just wanted to kiss the floor. We were
coming from hell and had arrived in heaven.
I was born in Sierra Leone and I came here at
the age of 13. I didn’t choose to come to Australia;
there was a civil war in my country, so my family
became refugees. We lived in an unofficial refugee
camp in Gambia for three years before my mum
applied for refugee status and we were told Australia
was going to take us in. We had no idea where
Australia was, but we didn’t care where we went.
My mum just wanted a place where my sister and
I could grow up and achieve the dreams she had
for us, without people trying to rape us or kill us.
Settling in Australia was a challenge; there
were not many black people. Everyone stared at
us, and at school people called me “black monkey”
and said, “she needs to go back to where she came
from”. In a day, 10 people might ask me where
I come from. Australia is my home, but people
want to make me feel like it’s not. Home is
where you are safe; home is what you make it.
I’m no different to you; I am just a girl with
a big booty, who wants to have a laugh and find
a good man and create a better world. The colour
of my skin shouldn’t come into it. I didn’t choose to
be a refugee; nobody makes that choice, it’s some
thing that happens to you. Every refugee has this
hope that one day they will settle in a place they can
call home and have a life free from bombs, murder,
poverty, rape and slavery. Australia is a dream, and
it’s a dream everyone wants to be a part of. We want
Australia to be our home because we don’t have a
home. When you say, “Go back where you come
from”, where is that? We’re going to get killed as
soon as we get there. Refugees are human beings,
who, due to their circumstances, have looked to
Australia to create a brighter future – the same one
you want for yourself and your loved ones. It can
happen to any one of us, so let’s not let fear win.
Let kindness and humanity win. I know the people
who have called me names are only a minority. The
majority are kind people who realise what a beautiful
country this is and welcome other people; those are
the people who make me a proud Australian.’
KHADIJA GBLA, 29:
Khadija and her family had to
flee their home during a civil war
‘I’M A REFUGEE’