When the Ahmad-Zada family were deported from Pakistan to Afghanistan earlier this year as undocumented Afghan refugees, they feared the worst.

Maryam Ahmad-Zada and her husband Habibullah had fled the Taliban takeover of their homeland and found refuge in Pakistan twenty years earlier.

Habibullah had found his way to Australia and settled in Mildura but Maryam and her sons Zia and Reza, and daughter Sediqa were left behind living a precarious existence in Pakistan.

The family spent 12 years waiting and hoping to be reunited.

But when, earlier this year, along with tens of thousands of other Afghans, Maryam and her kids were deported by Pakistani authorities back to Afghanistan, they faced even more uncertainty. As members of the minority ethnic Hazara group, they faced the prospect of persecution, poverty or worse.

Despite already having been granted visas to come to Australia to join Habibullah, Pakistani authorities refused to give them an exit visa and, instead, deported them back to Afghanistan.

Luckily, the family had undergone the medical exams required for an Australian visa just before they were deported.

Having sponsored his family to come to join him in Mildura, Habibullah approached refugee settlement agency AMES Australia to help bring his family to safety.

AMES workers Jules Kangeta and Khojista Hosaini swung into action.

“We spoke to Habibullah and we contacted the Home Affairs department and the IOM, the UN organisation that arranges for refugees to be sent to Australia,” Khojista said.

“IOM advised the family to move to a third country, possibly Iran, from where they would be able to arranges flights out. Maryam and her family applied for visas to go to Iran and after a few weeks they were granted.

“They found a place to live in a city called Mashhad, in northern Iran. In the meantime, we spoke to Habibullah again and, with his permission, we passed on the family’s details to IOM.

“A few weeks later, Habibullah contacted us to say IOM had been in touch with his family and asked them to come to Tehran, the capital, from where they would be able to fly to Australia,” Khojista said.

After more than 12 years apart, the Ahmad-Zada family was finally reunited in Mildura on August 22.

The AMES team prepared temporary accommodation in Mildura for Maryam and her children as Habibullah was living in a two-bedroom flat. Eventually they were supported to find a house large enough for the whole family.

“We also supported the family with transport and food vouchers. They were ecstatic to be reunited,” Khojista said.

Zia says he and his family are happy and grateful to finally be reunited.

“It was a long time to be apart but now we are all together again, it is an amazing feeling,” the 25-year-old said.

“I almost can’t believe it. We went through some hard years in Pakistan and life was uncertain, especially when we were deported.

“But now life in Mildura is good and we are grateful to be here, and we are looking forward to the future. I am studying English with AMES and I want to go on to study and get a job,” he said.

Rez, 17, says he is improving his English at the Mildura English Language Centre and wants to finish high school and go to university.

“Life in Mildura is amazing. It is such a quiet, safe place and everyone is so friendly. It is a long way from where we came from,” he said.

“We are able to play sport – we recently took part in a multicultural soccer tournament in Mildura that brought different communities together,” Rez said.

Sediqa has recently gained her learners permit and will soon be able to get a driver’s licence.

“I want to get a job and move on with my life,” she said.

Khojista and Jules, who are both former refugees, say the experience of being able help a refugee family reunite and start new lives is rewarding and life affirming.

“Having come to Australia as a refugee myself, I can’t describe the feeling of being able to help Habibulla, Maryam and their family,” Khojista said.

“It’s very rewarding and it makes me feel happy that I am now in a position to help other people make the same journey to safety that I did,” she said.

The family’s final journey to safety began when Jules noticed there had been no movement in the case for a few months.

“I saw on the file that we had referral that had not been actioned. So, I called Habibullah and he started crying. He told me his family had been deported to Pakistan,” Jules said.

“After receiving visas to come to Australia, Maryam and the children had gone to authorities in Pakistan to as ask for exit visas. They were asked if they had visas to stay in Pakistan.

“When the official found out they did not have Pakistani visas, they were immediately deported. They did not have a chance to go home and get their belongings, they were taken into custody and deported.

“When Habibullah told me this, I called IOM and explained the situation. IOM asked if Habibullah was in touch with his family. When I said he was, they said the family should try to find their way to Iran, from where IOM could organize flights to Australia for them.

“Habibullah told his family, and they were able to get to Iran on two-month visas. We sent copies of their visas and passports to IOM and after two weeks in Iran they were able to come to Australia,” Jules said.

The family was reunited at Mildura airport 12 years after they had separated. Maryam and her kids had spent three months in Afghanistan after being deported.

“They met at the airport after the plane landed and they were all crying. Habibullah was so happy, he said he had not been sleeping for three months after the deportation. He said he didn’t know how to thank us,” Jules said.

“But for us, it was an amazing experience to be able to help them. It was very rewarding, and it was situation I had never faced before. There was such desperation before we were able to get the family here and such joy afterwards. I will never forget it,” Jules said.