Families separated by Australia asylum policy

Refugees pay smugglers thousands and risk lives to enter Australia, and many wait for years before they’re given a visa.

The Australian refugee council says more than 26,000 people applied for asylum between 2012 and 2013. Many of them fled persecution in their home country, were smuggled by human traffickers and risked their travelling in overcrowded boats.

Among them are Shia Muslims escaping violence in Pakistan, separated from their families by thousands of kilometres.

Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford reports.

Source: Al Jazeera