Untold Truth
This feature is about Tamil refugees who have fled persecution in Sri Lanka to seek asylum. These men are currently on bridging visas, which allows them basically no rights and no legal identity. Until they are granted permanent residency, which can take up to 5 years at best, they are not eligible to apply for their families to join them.
This project was photographed without showing the identity of each subject, so as not to hinder or jeopardize their ongoing visa application, or to cause any adverse repercussions for their families in Sri Lanka.
They fled their country because they were facing grave persecution, they knew the risks involved in getting on a leaky boat, but it was their only option. They all told me, It is better for their wives and children to be alone in Sri Lanka, than for them to be killed.
I asked these men to put in writing something that they felt was very important to them. How they came to be in Australia, what the experience has taken away from them through the loss of their identity and the loss of their family, the personal cost of the journey, their greatest fears.