At the Salvation Army-hosted forum, Mosa Gherjestani, deputy chairman of Community Observation (formerly Hazara Council of Australia) said he believes the public perception of asylum seekers is “really getting worse”.
“Unfortunately many refugees who come here, especially by boat, are very mistreated in many ways,” he added.
He said the view wasn't helped by small snippets of "largely negative" news coverage given to asylum seekers by the press, and a focus on policy above humanitarian issues.
Mr Gherjestani said more education and understanding was needed on the issue.
Forum host Jonar Nader told SBS he hoped to counterbalance the negative views held by some Australians about asylum seekers, and “show the real-life drama behind the headlines.”
“Today we didn't touch on statistics, we didn't argue about policy. We are talking about individuals, one-by-one, who come here with the most horrific of stories,” he said.
Mr Nader said although he had no personal connection to the asylum seeker debate, he felt compelled to speak out to change commonly held misconceptions.
“I become involved because I get very angry when I hear people presuming [asylum seekers] are here to bludge, or here as a terrorist, or because they're just trying to get on the dole, when they're actually trying to contribute to our community.”
Also present was Hussain Ramazani, a Hazara man from Afghanistan now living in Sydney.
Calling Australia the "safest country", Mr Ramazani twice travelled to Australia by boat, returning this year after his first appeal was rejected in 2001.
“Some Australian people are thinking that [because] the boat people are from Afghanistan, they are bad," he says.
“[But] we are Hazara people, we especially fear from [the Taliban]. We are not part of them.”
Mr Ramazani said he was happy to return home in 2001 after conflict in Afghanistan eased, but that his family were forced to leave again as violence resurged.
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