Syrian refugee remembers his boat journey to Australia

The sunken fishing boat lies off the beach at Cape Kimberly at the mouth of the Daintree River where suspected Vietnamese migrants came ashore.

The sunken fishing boat lies off the beach at Cape Kimberly at the mouth of the Daintree River where suspected Vietnamese migrants came ashore. Source: AAP

Six days in the open sea and 30 months in detention, a Syrian refugee finally reunites with his family in Melbourne


Ghaleb Abdallah comes from a hot spot in southern suburbs of Syrian Capital, Damascus. After the first shells fell on his house he took his pregnant wife and his four kids and left the country. He arrived to Malaysia where there is no visa required, and planned his dangerous trip to Australia.

The boat took him and his family in the ocean for six days and nights before he becomes one of the last people to arrive to Australian shores in boats. He spent some time in Christmas island detention and some other time in detention center in Adelaide. 

Listen to His full story in Arabic above. 


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