Hi, 

I’m Jahin.

When I was a kid, I had the odd fight in the playground. I was different and different was bad, that’s what the other kids told me. I learned to stick up for myself. But as I grew up, I learned from those mistakes. 

Today, a kid like me could’ve had a playground fight and be facing deportation through secret evidence given to Home Affairs. This is known as Australia's new "Character Test". The Guardian News called this test "authoritarian-style".

It’s sad but true that if a white kid and a brown kid get into a fight, most authority figures will believe the white kid. Communities of colour are over-policed and over-surveilled, putting us at great risk of arrest even when we commit no crime. 

The Government recently appointed a new Home Affairs Minister. This gives us a chance to ask her to scrap the misguided idea of a Character Test. Will you ask Karen Andrews to meet with affected communities and hear first-hand about the harm of the Character Test? 

I’ve started working with Democracy in Colour, a racial justice organisation that’s trying to stop the introduction of this so-called Character Test. Please join me in the fight -- it’s too important to let these changes become law. 

Thanks,

Jahin