Equinox Talk: Rathy Barthlote on Compassion and the Asylum Seeker Experience

How far would you go to find safety for your family?

Rathy Barthlote travelled thousands of miles when she fled Sri Lanka with her husband and daughter to come to Australia by boat in 2013 (the same boat as Priya Nadesalingam, who now lives in Biloela), hoping to find a safe and permanent home. Instead she was denied refugee status by the former government's unfair 'Fast Track' process and has lived with the threat of deportation, and separation from her Australian born second daughter, since then. So in 2023, with 21 other women, she walked 640km from Melbourne to Canberra to draw attention to their plight. In 2024 she went to the footpath outside the Department of Home Affairs office in Melbourne, and participated in the months long encampment there. Whereas the Biloela family were granted permanency after a high profile campaign by their local community, Rathy - with thousands of others - still waits. She is a courageous, deeply compassionate woman who describes herself in the context of a broader struggle:

"My name is Rathy Barthlote. I’m a Tamil refugee woman, grassroots organiser, and co -founder of Refugee Women Action for Visa Equality (WAVE). I’ve been fighting for over a decade for permanent protection, justice, and dignity for refugees like myself who’ve been left in limbo by the Australian immigration system. I also help lead the Displaced Workers Collective, supporting refugees who’ve been working without rights or stability. My advocacy is grounded in lived experience, and I speak out to connect our struggle from the Tamil genocide in Sri Lanka to the Palestinian resistance because our fight is global, and our voices are powerful."

Come and hear her story, and her reflections on maintaining compassion and hope. She will be in conversation with Petrina Barson. There will be time after their conversation for questions, and mingling over a cuppa.