Photographs provide snapshot of the difficult lives of young refugees

Images displayed in a Sydney gallery depict hopes and doubts of refugees fleeing persecution.

Saw Nay Moo Doh Taw, a refugee from the Karen camp on the Thai-Myamar border, has been in Australia for 11 months

SYDNEY // As Australia faces a fresh influx of asylum seekers coming by boat from Indonesia, a photography exhibition by a group of young refugees has revealed the anguish of fleeing persecution and leaving families behind. The artists are in their teens and early 20s and many have made the often perilous journey to Australia on their own from Afghanistan, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Somalia and India as well the Thai-Myanmar border.

Their images at a gallery in Sydney depict the hopes and doubts of a new life in a contradictory country that has resettled 645,000 refugees since 1945 but has sometimes shown a callous disregard for those escaping conflict and violent discrimination. "This is a photo of me at the beach, thinking about my mum," said Sara Duale, 17, from Somalia, who has been in Australia for three months. "I have written a message for my mum in the sand. This is the first time I have been away from my family. I am missing them all very much."

A fellow Somalian, Yazin Wehliye, 21, has lived in Sydney for about a year and is coping well with his new surroundings. "For me this photo shows that I'm so happy and I'm smiling. I'm in a safe place. There are no landmines. My heart is not tormented now," he said. Saw Nay Moo Doh Taw, an ethnic Karen, arrived in Sydney 11 months ago after spending 13 years as a stateless refugee on the border between Myanmar and Thailand.

For three of those long years he waited for Australia to approve his asylum application and was eventually accepted under the country's official humanitarian programme, which grants visas to about 13,000 refugees annually. Mr Nay Moo, 23, said that after spending half of his life in a camp for the displaced, touching down in Australia was like being reborn. "For me it is like an egg hatching. The most exciting thing for me is to see lots of traffic that I have never seen before," Mr Nay Moo said, standing beside the photographs he has displayed in the exhibition.

"This picture expresses my hope in this country," he said, referring to a self-portrait that shows him looking thoughtfully up at the sky. "When I lived in the refugee camp I did not have a clear future, so when I came here I thought this was the time for me to try hard and look at the future." The ambitious young migrant is learning English and has enrolled on an information technology course at university.

"I have a dream that I will work in computers," he said. "For our Karen people we are very late in technology, so I think if I have the education I will go back some day and improve my community and develop my people." The photographic display showcases the work of 15 migrants at Sydney's Pine Street Creative Arts Centre. The manager, Jane Hooper, said the images provide an intriguing view into the private world of the participants.

"They are extremely self-reflective and moving," Ms Hooper said. "It was a whole lot of people coming together who are from similar backgrounds. It was very empowering to discuss and share their experiences with each other. "On a deeper level it helps them to feel accepted as part of the community." Apart from its indigenous peoples, Australia is a land of settlers, where one quarter of the population was born overseas. Yet it can be tough for newcomers to adapt despite the country's strong multicultural flavour.

For young, vulnerable refugees it can be a lonely ordeal, according to Robert Kok, a Sydney city councillor who migrated from Malaysia in the late 1980s. "If they are missing and worrying about their families back where they are from, initially they feel that they are alone, especially if they can't speak the language, which will be a barrier as well. Coming to Australia is a big change for them, but [it is] an opportunity for them to start a new life."

It appears that increasing numbers of asylum seekers have their sights set on Australia. Since last August, 17 boatloads of mostly Afghans and Sri Lankans have been intercepted trying to make the treacherous voyage from Indonesia to northern Australian waters. Historically, most asylum seekers who reach Australia are deemed by the authorities to be genuine refugees rather than simply economic migrants.

While Australia has been a generous sanctuary for many, for others it can be bleak and unwelcoming. "Being a refugee is like being in a prison for your whole life," said Lucy, an African asylum seeker who is photographed standing behind a cage-like steel fence. "Each day you get discouraged and fear everything. The day this photo was taken I had gone for a job interview and got discouraged because they told me I didn't have what it takes to do the job. Refugees are treated like good-for-nothing people. We are motivated people who can do great things," she said.