Poulad Naghoni-Bakhtiari
| First name | Poulad |
|---|---|
| Last name | Naghoni-Bakhtiari |
| Country of Origin | Iran |
| Date of Birth | 22/05/83 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1996 |
| Submitted by | Poulad Naghoni-Bakhtiari |
Story
My Entire family were communists who were persecuted by the Islamic regime after the revolution. Many went to prison where they were tortutred and my fathers best friend was executed. My father managed not to be caught and in 1994 was smuggled out of Iran for 5000 American dollars, through the mountains into Turkey where he declared himself a political refugee.
We soon followed him to turkey – we left legally as we were not wanted.
We lived in Turkey for two years while waiting for the UN to find us a country which would interview us and accept us as political refugees. During this time we lived in a very poor neighbourhoods as so did all the other Iranian refugees and Turks who lived there. We were finally accepted by Australia after being turned down by Switzerland and Canada.
ON 14 november 1996 we landed in sydney airport. I remember it was a hot, dry Sydney summer, the sky was clear. During the drive from my aunty’s house I remember thinking why are there so many Chinese and Arabs and other nationalities on the street. I had never seen such a multicultural place. The weather and some of the old buildings reminded me of the city I was born in (Ahvaz). I remember Australia feeling like home – the feeling of safety. And all the taxis looked like police cars in Turkey which scared me. haha