Farahanaz and The Forgotten People

Over the past 20 years Australia has undermined its position as a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention and, in 2013, our ‘stop the boats’ campaign became an inspiration for other inward looking countries.

With the support of individual Australians and years of hard work, the refugees who were stuck in Indonesia have started a refugee-led education revolution. There are now over ten refugee-led schools and nearly 2000 refugees getting education from 100 volunteer refugee teachers in Indonesia.

Their community is a real-life example of what can happen when our two communities work together. They provide an ongoing education opportunity for Australians and are an important part of Australia’s growth, as we become the liberal, multi-cultural and humane global leader that we aspire to be.

The refugee community in Indonesia has built an active education and school community and is an example of what is possible when refugees and non-refugees work together. This community provides Australians with an opportunity to connect and learn about the refugees who had hoped to contribute to our society. This film and our distribution strategy is the first step in connecting our two communities.

The Staging Post documentary was an integral communications element and helped build a borderless community between Australians and refugees living in transit. We plan to continue to grow this borderless community and to create ongoing two-way education opportunities for Australians and the transient refugee community in Indonesia and South-East Asia.

Our film presents a non-political human face to the refugee situation and allows the audience to connect with its characters, before allowing the audience to make their own decisions about the current political situation in Australia and worldwide.

We have positive partnerships and relationships with most refugee advocacy organisations in Australia, as well as direct relationships with community groups, universities and schools around Australia and Internationally.

We hope they will accompany the refugees in Indonesia, on social media or otherwise, and that they will consider Australia's refugee position and its effect on our role as a leading liberal democracy.

We have two goals. One is to accompany the refugees in transit for as long as they need. The second is to provide the opportunity for Australians to connect directly with the refugees and to create education opportunities.

Ultimately we hope that this will create a well-informed and empathetic mainstream Australia and that it will influence the leaders-of-tomorrow to review Australia's refugee policies.