The road to Australian citizenship for separated Afghan sisters

Sisters Arya and Adiba were separated in Afghanistan five years ago. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica) Adiba Ganji has reunited with her sister Arya in Melbourne after she fled Afghanistan in 2021. Arya has received her Australian citizenship through a little-known pathway for minors, while Adiba is expected to obtain her citizenship in a ceremony later this year. Migration lawyers say people from refugee backgrounds face additional barriers when applying for citizenship. Link copiedShareShare articleAdiba Ganji knew that her life wouldn't be the same if she stayed in Afghanistan. "It was a Friday afternoon. We heard that the Taliban are coming," she told the ABC. On August 15, 2021, the Taliban captured Kabul as the last remaining United States troops withdrew from America's longest war. Two years earlier, the then-14-year-old had been selected to play for Afghanistan's national soccer team. Cultural norms meant it was already difficult for women to play sport in the country. But under Taliban control Adiba knew women would not even be free to work or study, let alone compete in sport. She knew she could not stay in Afghanistan. "I was counting the airplanes in the sky and I wanted to be in them, I wanted to just go," Adiba said, recounting watching hundreds of humanitarian flights leave Kabul's international airport. A soldier stands on the tarmac at Kabul International Aiport when thousands were evacuated. (Supplied: Adiba Ganji) The 16-year-old packed her bag with a bottle of water, two pieces of bread, her passport and national ID. Describing the memory through tears, Adiba recalled the moment she told her mother she was leaving for the airport. "It still reminds me of how I left my country," she said. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia's military evacuated 4,100 people on 32 flights from Kabul between August 18 and 26, 2021. Adiba and her older brother were two of those passengers, leaving their parents and four siblings behind in Kabul. Refugees lining up for an Australian evacuation plane during the fall of Kabul, taken by Adiba Ganji on her phone. (Supplied: Adiba Ganji) After weeks of waiting, travelling, and not knowing where they were going, the pair arrived in Melbourne. "When we told our family that we are in Australia, they could not believe us," Adiba said. Adiba started to learn English, worked at a cafe in Melbourne's CBD and moved into a house in Dandenong, in Melbourne's south-east, with her brother. She eventually joined nearly 30 of her teammates who also fled Afghanistan playing soccer for Melbourne Victory's Afghan Women's Team. Adiba Ganji has been playing for Melbourne Victory's Afghan Women's team since arriving in Australia in 2021. (Takeover Melbourne: Marc Eiden) Adiba missed her family and was determined to get the rest of her family to Melbourne. With the help of Victoria Legal Aid, a statutory authority that provides free legal assistance to financially disadvantaged people, Adiba was able to support her sister Arya, two younger brothers and mother to reach Australia. Adiba and her brother were reunited in Melbourne with her mother and siblings in 2024. (Supplied: Adiba Ganji) The two sisters said they were overjoyed when they reunited in 2024 after three years apart. "I'm really happy here with my family. And I really appreciate my sister, she helped us a lot," Arya said. Arya, now 18 years old, is attending high school, something that would have been impossible in Afghanistan. Arya and Adiba didn't know if they would ever see each other again after being separated in 2021. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica) Adiba and Arya live with their siblings and mother who feared she would never see her daughter again. "She's a really beautiful mum, and she's here now," Adiba said. Their father and older sister are currently in limbo in Pakistan where the government there has been deporting Afghan citizens without valid documentation back to the Taliban. But Adiba is hopeful they'll be able to join the rest of the family in Melbourne soon. Arya and Adiba speak with their father and sister who left Afghanistan and now live in Pakistan. (ABC News: Danniele Bonica) Five years after Adiba fled Afghanistan another milestone is within reach: Australian citizenship. Victoria Legal Aid project coordinator Gaetano Romano said there's a general perception that legal advice isn't required when applying for Australian citizenship. "The reality for many applicants is it's very difficult to produce the circumstances of their previous life before they arrived in Australia," he said. Gaetano Romano said freely available legal services are under-utilised in citizenship applications. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica) Senior lawyer Yoko Kamanda agreed, saying a lack of identity documents, information being recorded incorrectly and the citizenship test itself can be barriers for refugee applicants. Through a little-known citizenship provision, Arya w

The road to Australian citizenship for separated Afghan sisters

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